Incident on QF706 ADL to CBR

[33kft]

Mid-air emergency as loud bang is heard on Qantas flight

Frightened passengers donned oxygen masks as their Qantas flight to Canberra was diverted to Melbourne following a depressurisation emergency this morning.

A loud bang could reportedly be heard from the back of the plane before it made a rapid decent to 10,000 feet.

The oxygen masks were deployed but passengers were able to breathe normally once the plane reached a lower altitude.

QF706 had taken off from Adelaide just after 6.10am today, bound for Canberra.

The plane was given priority landing at Melbourne airport where it arrived safely about 8am.

 

[juddles]

.......

QF706 had taken off from Adelaide just after 6.10am today, bound for Canberra.

The plane was given priority landing at Melbourne airport where it arrived safely about 8am....

I love the flight path - perfect no-nonsense diversion and landing

 

[jb747]

The aircraft was cruising at FL250 prior to the descent, so that would tend to indicate that it had despatched under an MEL with one pack inoperative. Lose the second one, and there you go...

I have my doubts about the ‘bang’ though, as it seems that it wasn’t heard by everyone...and there is no reason for pack to shutdown with an noise at all.

 

[AIRwin]

Aircraft was VH-VXL and has now been ferried from MEL to BNE as QF6122:
VH-VXL - Boeing 737-838 - Qantas - Flightradar24

 

[maccaisking]

The aircraft was cruising at FL250 prior to the descent, so that would tend to indicate that it had despatched under an MEL with one pack inoperative. Lose the second one, and there you go...

I have my doubts about the ‘bang’ though, as it seems that it wasn’t heard by everyone...and there is no reason for pack to shutdown with an noise at all.

Excuse my ignorance, but a pack of what?

 

[DC3]

Excuse my ignorance, but a pack of what?

..... maybe aircon?

 

[jb747]

Excuse my ignorance, but a pack of what?

Air conditioning and pressurisation...all you ever wanted to know.

Air Conditioning

 

[Mattg]

Trust the mainstream media to report this with headlines like "Qantas Horror Flight Plunges 15,000 Ft Before Emergency Landing in Melbourne" - so predictable.

 

[juddles]

Actually, on Qantas flights I have plunged from 30-40,000 feet on about 300 occasions!! And on all of those 300 flights we were forced to land!! The horror!!

 

[JessicaTam]

Would a pilot consider the repercussions of diverting to a smaller airport that may not have servicing facilities? MQL was a lot closer than MEL. Would it have been considered? Or by going to MEL does it indicate that the aircraft did not need to land ASAP?

 

[Pushka]

If you were the least bit antsy about flying I’m pretty sure the use of masks and dropping 15000 feet suddenly to be very distressing.

 

[jb747]

Would a pilot consider the repercussions of diverting to a smaller airport that may not have servicing facilities? MQL was a lot closer than MEL. Would it have been considered? Or by going to MEL does it indicate that the aircraft did not need to land ASAP?

There was no hurry to land at all. If fact, if they'd had the fuel to do so, they could have continued to their destination. The only real negative is that at 10,000', you're outside of controlled airspace. Possibly the only thing that surprises me is that the masks were deployed. I'd have thought you'd have a pretty good chance of beating the automatic deployment...so perhaps the plunge wasn't plungy enough.

This really is the media talking up a non event.

 

[Himeno]

This really is the media talking up a non event.

They do have to ratchet up the fear mongering, otherwise they are scared they won't make any money.

 

[Quickstatus]

Again, journalism at its best.

 

[Pushka]

So how many have had to use the oxygen masks? I’ve not read one instance on AFF. Doesn’t that qualify it as something very unusual?

 

[dajop]

Again, journalism at its best.

Was reading about an aborted takeoff recently in Europe (can’t/don’t want to find the reference) The headlines were that 8 people injured in an aborted takeoff and .. first paragraph indicated flight attendants were screaming during the incident.

Read further and 8 received minor injuries during slide evacuation (not during the aborted takeoff itself) and flight attendants were screaming instructions to evacuate once the call was made to evacuate the aircraft.

 

[jb747]

Was reading about an aborted takeoff recently in Europe (can’t/don’t want to find the reference) The headlines were that 8 people injured in an aborted takeoff and .. first paragraph indicated flight attendants were screaming during the incident.

Read further and 8 received minor injuries during slide evacuation (not during the aborted takeoff itself) and flight attendants were screaming instructions to evacuate once the call was made to evacuate the aircraft.

There is only one method for evacuating an aircraft, and that’s as fast as possible. You’ll possibly hear words from the flight attendants that you didn’t think they knew, especially if you try to take your luggage. From the Captain’s point of view...an evacuation will ALWAYS cause some injuries, and potentially even some serious ones, so it isn’t something to be lightly undertaken.

Oxygen masks...well, they’ll drop if the cabin altitude exceeds about 13-14,000 feet, or if manually activated. Some emergency descent checklists include the manual activation. If the packs are turned off at about FL250, the aircraft cabin will ‘bleed’ up to your cruising altitude. It shouldn’t be all that fast, but the number is indeterminate. Basically the aircraft are not air tight...they pressurise because you pump in more air than leaks out. Once the packs stop, the leaks win. I’d expect a climb rate of no more that 1,000 feet per minute, but it’s not something I’ve ever tested. The idea in this sort of descent is to get down below 13,000’ before the masks automatically trip, and also not to activate them manually.

 

[RooFlyer]

I disagree that it was a 'non event'.

Technically maybe, especially for those knowing at the time what was happening and what the repercussions would be ( minimal), but for Joe Punter in 32B, it would be concerning at a minimum and terrifying at the other end. We know at these times communication with the passengers is a very low priority so the angst was probably not over quickly.

Media reports what They are told. Not for them to discount passengers stories.

I like @Pushka s other thread about who amongst us have experienced an in flight emergency as a pax. Not me and if it happened I'd be coughping myself.

 

[Pushka]

....... Not me and if it happened I'd be coughping myself.

You and me both.

 

[love_the_life]

You and me both.

Bring me my brown trousers.