Pressurisation failure on Virgin A320 [Flight VA9727 | 24/5/2022]

[bussyboy]

Reported in PerthNow.com.au, flight had turned around to Perth...

Virgin flight bound for Perth in MAYDAY drama

The pilots declared an emergency as a pressurization failure required them to descend rapidly possibly across other traffic.

www.perthnow.com.au

Seems legit on FlightRadar24, dropped from 33,000ft after about 15 minutes
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/va9275#2bf9b268

 

[HS-TQE]

Aircraft in question is VH-YUD, VA(RA)'s oldest A320.
It was VARA's 2nd A320 inherited from an upcoming Skywest order/lease after the VA acquisition.

 

[jakeseven7]

Another one? Didn’t this happen a year or so ago? Or is this just an old report

 

[AIRwin]

Another one? Didn’t this happen a year or so ago?

This?

QF583 SYD-PER diverted to Adelaide, Feb 4th 2021, loss of cabin pressure

Was anyone on this flight yesterday night? Got notification from Flightradar24 and was watching descent to ADL wandering how severe it was. News coverage in Australia is shocking, this wasn't reported anywhere in local media. This doesn't look like pleasant flight for poor passengers with 3 hr...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

This?

QF583 SYD-PER diverted to Adelaide, Feb 4th 2021, loss of cabin pressure

Was anyone on this flight yesterday night? Got notification from Flightradar24 and was watching descent to ADL wandering how severe it was. News coverage in Australia is shocking, this wasn't reported anywhere in local media. This doesn't look like pleasant flight for poor passengers with 3 hr...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

No that’s Qantas. We are talking about Virgin. Wrong airline

 

[AIRwin]

No that’s Qantas. We are talking about Virgin. Wrong airline

All the same

 

[jakeseven7]

Here it is, was last year

Flight scare on Virgin flight from WA mining town Newman to Perth​

Passengers aboard a flight from Newman to Perth were given a scare when the aircraft suddenly lost cabin pressure and had to make an emergency descent to a safe altitude.

The Virgin flight had taken off from the mining town of Newman and was on its way to Perth on Monday night when passengers started to become light-headed.

Fright forces FIFO mining town flight to take action

Passengers aboard a flight from Newman to Perth were given a scare when the aircraft suddenly had to descend to a safe altitude.

www.perthnow.com.au

All the same

Not really….

 

[HS-TQE]

Another one? Didn’t this happen a year or so ago? Or is this just an old report

Different aircraft. Aircraft in question in 2013 2019, according to ATSB/Media Reports was VH-FNJ (Fokker 100).

Edit: FNJ was also involved in an 2021 incident involving a Cabin Crew becoming incapacitated.

 

[ozstamps]

Virgin swapped out a 737 for our biz class flights Perth-Broome in a few weeks for a one class A320.

Maybe they'll retire this oldie.

 

[jakeseven7]

Virgin swapped out a 737 for our biz class flights Perth-Broome in a few weeks for a one class A320.

Maybe they'll retire this oldie.

Do you care if you fly in a pressurised aircraft

 

[ausfox]

If you want to fly above 12000ft then pressure is abs necessary Or hypoxia gets you.

 

[bussyboy]

If you want to fly above 12000ft then pressure is abs necessary Or hypoxia gets you.

Finally! I can sleep on the plane!

 

[jb747]

I'm sure that we'll never find out, but I wonder what the cabin profile was. Most "depressurisations" are really a failure of the system. The aircraft doesn't depressurise to any great altitude, because it relatively slowly loses the pressure, and there's generally time to take care of whatever procedure has presented itself, and to descend, quickly enough to beat the 13,000' cabin altitude where the masks would trip.

Causes...probably a few but my bet would be that the aircraft was dispatched under an MEL with one part of the pressurisation system inactive. That removes the redundancy, and a single failure will then lead you into what we see here.