Eurowings A319 near Cologne on Nov 20th 2017, air conditioning problem prompts cabin crew to don smoke hood

Last Update: November 23, 2017 / 18:30:23 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 20, 2017

Classification
Incident

Airline
Eurowings

Flight number
EW-20

Departure
Cologne, Germany

Destination
Berlin Tegel, Germany

Aircraft Registration
D-AGWJ

Aircraft Type
Airbus A319

ICAO Type Designator
A319

An Eurowings Airbus A319-100, registration D-AGWJ performing flight EW-20 from Cologne to Berlin Tegel (Germany), was climbing out of Cologne when the crew stopped the climb at FL200 and decided to return to Cologne for a safe landing on runway 14L about 25 minutes after departure.

Passenger Peter M. Meyer reported the aircraft returned to Cologne due to a defect of the air conditioning system and posted a photo showing the cabin crew had donned their protective breathing equipment.

Passenger Horst (see also below in reader comments) told The Aviation Herald, that the aircraft was pretty full, it became a bit warm/sticky on board (which could have remained within normal though). The passenger did not notice an unusual smells, noises or vibrations. After landing there was a bit more smell of cerosene than usual. The passenger did not suffer any health issues. The first thing of anomaly noticed was an announcement by the captain who told passengers "frequent flyers probably have noticed already that cabin service has not yet started and we are turning. We received indication of a problem with the air conditioning system. As safety precaution we therefore return to Cologne." The passenger annotated that between the sentences there were pauses and sound of breathing as if an oxygen masks was on or had been removed just for the announcement. Shortly before landing the first officer made an announcements that passengers should be seated and strapped in, the sounds made it clear the announcement was made with the oxygen mask on. The purser (visible in the photo by Peter M. Meyer) wearing protective breathing equipment also made an announcement to verify the seat belts were closed and then indicated the possibility of a medical checkup directly at the apron or inside the terminal. The landing was supersoft. After landing everybody was rushed off the aircraft into the busses, while going past the cockpit on the way out the passenger saw one pilot was still wearing his oxygen mask, the other had just taken it off. Another person, the passenger believes a paramedic, was attending to the pilots.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 20, 2017

Classification
Incident

Airline
Eurowings

Flight number
EW-20

Departure
Cologne, Germany

Destination
Berlin Tegel, Germany

Aircraft Registration
D-AGWJ

Aircraft Type
Airbus A319

ICAO Type Designator
A319

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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