Summary
- On November 2nd, an Iberia flight en route from Madrid to Rome suffered a lack of cabin pressure, however the pilots managed to land the aircraft safely in Barcelona.
- The incident involved a 21-year-old Airbus A320-200 with high-density seating and operated under an operating lease agreement.
- In case of depressurization, pilots must descend to a lower altitude of roughly 10,000ft (3,000m), thus allowing everyone on board to breathe without oxygen masks.
A lack of cabin pressure is something you don’t need to experience. The implications on the aircraft structure is perhaps devastating, and the protection of all passengers and crew onboard is put at severe risk. Luckily, this was not the case for an Iberia flight en path to Rome, which managed to land safely in Barcelona without reporting injuries.
Lack of cabin pressure en path to Rome
On November 2nd, Iberia flight IB 3234 was operating a scheduled service between the airline’s hub in Madrid (MAD) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO).
The flight was operated with certainly one of the airline’s Airbus A320-200s. In accordance with Flighradar.24, while the aircraft was flying at 34,000ft (10,363m), about 50nm (93km) west of Barcelona, the flight crew initiated an emergency descent that brought the aircraft to an altitude of 10,000ft (3,048m). At this point, the aircraft was flying north of Barcelona. After waiting in a holding pattern, the A320 was cleared to land at Barcelona El-Prat International (BCN) on runways 24R shortly after 19:00 (UTC), some 35 minutes after leaving flight level 340.
Photo: RikoBest I Shutterstock
In accordance with Flightradar.24, the Airbus A320 involved within the incident left BCN the next day, on November third, as flight IB42 certain for Rome Fiumicino, where it landed at 16:04 local time (15:04 UTC).
Lack of cabin pressure – what to anticipate
A lack of cabin pressure is a major emergency since it puts the aircraft structure and the protection of those onboard under serious threat.
When cruising at a flight level of 35,000ft (10,600m), an aircraft normally maintains a cabin pressure, which equals the pressure felt at 6,000/8,000ft (1,800/2,438m). Such a level of pressure allows everyone onboard to breathe normally.
In case of depressurization, pilots immediately must bring the aircraft to a lower altitude, ideally around 10,000ft (3,000m). Oxygen masks are designed to robotically deploy once a certain oxygen threshold is exceeded. In case the automated system fails, the pilots can manually deploy the masks from the cockpit, and once a secure altitude is reached, an announcement is made informing passengers that they’ll remove their masks.
Photo: Ilyas Kalimullin I Shutterstock
The oxygen supply lasts for about 13 to quarter-hour. Although this may not sound like much time, it’s enough for the pilots to bring the aircraft to a secure altitude.
Have you ever ever been involved in a case of cabin depressurization? Tell us by clicking on the comment button below!