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Airliner accidents involving in-flight depressurization

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Bengaluru, Sep 20: The incident of loss of cabin pressure in Mumbai-Jaipur Jet Airways flight has brought the the fore previous incidents of loss of cabin pressurization. The crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 in Ermenonville Forest in 1974 is the deadliest accident due to explosive decompression in the history of aviation.

Airliner accidents involving in-flight depressurization

In fact, aircraft cabins are pressurised using cooled and filtered air bled from the engines, keeping the air pressure inside the cabin at the equivalent of an altitude of 8,000ft - even though commercial aircraft often fly at 40,000 ft.

Also Read | 30 passengers on Jet Airways left bleeding after crew forgets to maintain cabin pressure

Here is the lsit of previous accidents involving in-flight depressurization:

  • Helios Airways Flight 522 was a scheduled passenger flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens, Greece, that crashed on 14 August 2005, killing all 121 passengers and crew on board. A loss of cabin pressurization incapacitated the crew, leaving the aircraft flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and descended into the ground near Grammatiko, Greece.
  • A 2003 flight of a Boeing 737 between Marseilles and London Gatwick showed that a cabin-wide pressurization fault can be recognized by the flight crew. A problem was first noticed when the crew began to feel some discomfort in their ears. This was shortly followed by the cabin altitude warning horn which indicated that the cabin altitude had exceeded 10,000 feet and this was seen to continue to climb on the cockpit gauge.
  • Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, but was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui. There was one fatality, flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was ejected from the airplane. Another 65 passengers and crew were injured. Despite the substantial damage inflicted by the decompression, and the loss of one cabin crew member, the safe landing of the aircraft established the incident as a significant event in the history of aviation, with far-reaching effects on aviation safety policies and procedures.
  • British Airways Flight 5390 left Birmingham Airport in England for Málaga Airport in Spain on 10 June 1990, an improperly installed windscreen panel separated from its frame, causing the plane's captain to be blown partially out of the aircraft. With the captain pressed against the window frame for twenty minutes, the first officer managed to land at Southampton Airport with no loss of life.
  • British European Airways Flight 706 was a scheduled flight from Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom to Salzburg-W. A. Mozart Airport in Salzburg, Austria. On 2 October 1971, whilst en route at 19,000 ft (5,791 m), 35 minutes after takeoff, the rear cabin pressure bulkhead failed. The resulting pressurisation of the tail section caused the surfaces of the tailplanes to separate, weakening them to the point that they broke off. Without a horizontal stabiliser the aircraft entered an uncontrollable dive. The aircraft crashed near Aarsele, Belgium, killing all 63 passengers and crew on impact.
  • United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu, and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, resulting in the deaths of nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu, where it landed safely.
  • Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a scheduled flight from Istanbul Yesilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport, with an intermediate stop at Orly Airport in Paris. On 3 March 1974, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into the Ermenonville Forest, outside Paris, killing all 346 people on board. The crash was also known as the Ermenonville air disaster. The crash occurred when an incompletely secured cargo door at the rear of the plane burst open and broke off, causing an explosive decompression which severed critical cables necessary to control the aircraft. To maximize the working space within the cargo hold, the cargo doors opened outwards, leading to the possibility of them being forced open at altitude under normal in-flight pressure.

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