Korean Air 737MAX8 Has Pressurization Event

[RSVKanga]

Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan plummets 7,600 metres, makes emergency landing

Roughly 30 minutes after taking off, the plane had to make an emergency landing after detecting a fault with the aircraft’s pressurisation system.

www.scmp.com

13 people on board Korean Air flight taken to hospital after plane diverts due to aircraft defect

SINGAPORE: Thirteen passengers were taken to hospital after a Korean Airlines flight from South Korea to Taiwan on Saturday (Jun 22) was diverted due to a defect in the aircraft, local media reported. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon International Airport for Taichung International Airport at 4

www.channelnewsasia.com

Thirteen passengers were taken to hospital after a Korean Airlines flight from South Korea to Taiwan on Saturday (Jun 22) was diverted due to a defect in the aircraft, local media reported.

Flight KE189 departed from Incheon International Airport for Taichung International Airport at 4.45pm on Saturday with 125 passengers on board, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Unsure why two-day old news is only being reported now.

 

[Mattg]

The plane had a decompression event, so the pilots initiated a controlled descent to a lower altitude, before landing safely. The 17 people who were "evaluated at medical facilities" were "discharged without severe injuries".

I think the headline is a bit misleading.

 

[SYD]

The plane had a decompression event, so the pilots initiated a controlled descent to a lower altitude, before landing safely. The 17 people who were "evaluated at medical facilities" were "discharged without severe injuries".

I think the headline is a bit misleading.

But it’s a MAX so it must have a click bait headline…

 

[JohnM]

B-b-b-but it 'plunged' and 'plummeted'...

 

[DC3]

And upside down as well?

 

[SCM]

It does sound bad though, no? Depressurization event due to fault with the aircraft.

 

[Franky]

It does sound bad though, no? Depressurization event due to fault with the aircraft.

That said, does it mean that many pax were not belted in, which after the number of recent events would make me wonder whether people are not taking much notice of the potential possibilities that they could suffer….

 

[SYD]

That said, does it mean that many pax were not belted in, which after the number of recent events would make me wonder whether people are not taking much notice of the potential possibilities that they could suffer….

No mention of that. It was a controlled descent to sort out the cabin pressure issue.

In this instance, just popping eardrums, babies crying - as you’d expect.

 

[elanshin]

The plane had a decompression event, so the pilots initiated a controlled descent to a lower altitude, before landing safely. The 17 people who were "evaluated at medical facilities" were "discharged without severe injuries".

I think the headline is a bit misleading

No mention of that. It was a controlled descent to sort out the cabin pressure issue.

In this instance, just popping eardrums, babies crying - as you’d expect.

Its just overall not well reported, however using the word rapid descent would be still accurate. 35k ft to 10k feet going straight from climb to rapid descent would be quite jarring.

25k foot descent in 7 mins works out to be nearly 18m/s or 1.8G of constant descent. Especially as looking at FR24, they were literally ascending to cruise before this happened.

So it's not surprising that people were scared and had to have some check ups. But no the plane wasn't falling out of the skies.

 

[NM]

Unsure why two-day old news is only being reported now.

Probably because it was a non-event. Pressurisation issue, pilots take the propper action to quickly decend to around FL100 and return to their home airport for a normal landing. Such pressurisation incidents happen quite regularly. The unusual circumstance with this one is that they actually made it to FL350 or so before experiencing the issue.

Now if the pressurisation issue was caused by an exploding oxygen cylinder making a large hole in the side of the aircraft, or it a door plug had detached from the aircraft, or an exploding engine had deposited fragments through the fuselage, then it probably would be a news-worthy event. But the pilots would likely have taken the exact same actions to decend quickly, evaluate their aircraft's operational capabiliy and land as soon as they determined was required.

 

[jakeseven7]

Seems to have just made its way to Australian mainstream media too. Another MAX event to talk about I guess!

 

[dajop]

And MH now with pressurisation issue …

Malaysia Airlines flight to Bangkok makes a U-turn due to a pressurization issue

Malaysia Airlines said one of its flight en route to Bangkok had to make a U-turn back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday after experiencing a “pressurization issue.” It said the pilots initiated an emergency descent although cabin altitude was not exceeded and passenger oxygen...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[DC3]

And MH now with pressurisation issue …

Was this an A330, rather than a MAX8?

 

[hsct]

I always have my seatbelt buckled up except going to toilet.

 

[straitman]

Its just overall not well reported, however using the word rapid descent would be still accurate. 35k ft to 10k feet going straight from climb to rapid descent would be quite jarring.

25k foot descent in 7 mins works out to be nearly 18m/s or 1.8G of constant descent. Especially as looking at FR24, they were literally ascending to cruise before this happened.

So it's not surprising that people were scared and had to have some check ups. But no the plane wasn't falling out of the skies.

The rapid change from a climb to a descent would create momentary discomfort. A descent at 3500 feet per minute is within the parameters of what is considered normal.

Nothing to see here IMHO.

 

[DC3]

I always have my seatbelt buckled up except going to toilet.

And even safer to strap yourself to same potty

 

[Must...Fly!]

And even safer to strap yourself to same potty

I would shudder to think of the microbial growth on such a system were it ever installed. Touching the tap and lock is bad enough...

 

[serfty]

I think the headline is a bit misleading.

I have modified the title

 

[JessicaTam]

Was this an A330, rather than a MAX8?

Don't worry, I am sure someone will call it a "Boeing A330" just for the headline.

 

[jb747]

B-b-b-but it 'plunged' and 'plummeted'...

Which implies that it was an uncontrolled response. Which, of course, it wasn't.

It does sound bad though, no? Depressurization event due to fault with the aircraft.

Do we know that it depressurised, and if so, to what degree. It's not impossible, with some failures, to actually get the aircraft down low before the cabin altitude becomes an issue. The masks may have been dropped manually, but the cabin would have had to exceed about 14,000' or so for it to happen automatically. You can't read too much into them being dropped.

Its just overall not well reported, however using the word rapid descent would be still accurate. 35k ft to 10k feet going straight from climb to rapid descent would be quite jarring.

Climb performance at FL350 wouldn't be anything like you experience at lower levels. The pitch attitude would probably be something in the order of 4º nose up. The descent would have only required the nose to be lowered by about 5-6º, and there's no reason for that to be done abruptly.

25k foot descent in 7 mins works out to be nearly 18m/s or 1.8G of constant descent. Especially as looking at FR24, they were literally ascending to cruise before this happened.

No. You misunderstand the term G. It's a measure of acceleration. The 18m/s is a velocity. There would have been very little acceleration involved in the descent, or even its entry, so basically the aircraft would have been at a normal 1g for the entire time.

Probably because it was a non-event. Pressurisation issue, pilots take the proper action to quickly descend to around FL100 and return to their home airport for a normal landing. Such pressurisation incidents happen quite regularly. The unusual circumstance with this one is that they actually made it to FL350 or so before experiencing the issue.

Most pressurisation events involved the controllers, or perhaps the bleeds (the air source) and not any form of breach. They happen, but I wouldn't call them common.

The rapid change from a climb to a descent would create momentary discomfort. A descent at 3500 feet per minute is within the parameters of what is considered normal.

Even the entry should have been smooth. The most notable part would probably have been speed brake extension, and the attendant vibration. 3,500 fpm was my normal in the 767.