Virgin Australia F100 enroute on Dec 27th 2021, cabin and flight crew unwell in flight, possibly hypoxia
Last Update: April 13, 2022 / 14:26:56 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Dec 27, 2021
Classification
Accident
Airline
Virgin Australia
Flight number
VA-1896
Departure
Newman, Australia
Destination
Perth, Australia
Aircraft Registration
VH-FNU
Aircraft Type
Fokker 100
ICAO Type Designator
F100
The aircraft remained on the ground for 3 days and 16 hours.
The ATSB opened an investigation expected to conclude in Q3/2022 into the occurrence.
On Apr 13th 2022 the ATSB reported they aborted the investigation. The ATSB reasoned:
- The normal cabin altitude for the Fokker F100 at FL350 is 8,000 ft.
- The flight crew recalled that the cabin altitude reached about 8,300 ft.
- The excessive cabin altitude warning (which activates at 10,000 ft) did not activate during the flight.
- The drop-down cabin oxygen masks automatically deploy at a cabin altitude of 13,500 ft on the Fokker F100 aircraft. The masks did not automatically deploy and were manually deployed by the flight crew.
Inspections and tests were conducted in accordance with the aircraft maintenance manual and in consultation with the aircraft manufacturer. Although there were defects identified, none were considered contributory to a depressurisation event or to the symptoms and subsequent incapacitation reported by the crew members. Several components were changed as a precaution.
The available evidence indicates that the aircraft’s cabin altitude remained below 10,000 ft. The reasons for the cabin crew and flight crew symptoms could not be established.
The decision by the flight crew to don oxygen masks and descend to a safe altitude was sound. If there is any doubt as to whether the flight crew’s ability to operate the aircraft may be affected by a possible oxygen supply problem, the safest course of action is to go onto oxygen as soon as possible.
Aircraft Registration Data
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Dec 27, 2021
Classification
Accident
Airline
Virgin Australia
Flight number
VA-1896
Departure
Newman, Australia
Destination
Perth, Australia
Aircraft Registration
VH-FNU
Aircraft Type
Fokker 100
ICAO Type Designator
F100
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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