 |
| Smoke in the Plane‚ Absolute Panic‚ Urgent Descent on FlySafair Flight |
“Smoke in the plane‚ absolute panic‚ urgent descent and no communication until five minutes before landing. Most oxygen masks were detached‚ none had flowing oxygen in them,” told a FlySafair passenger.
FlySafair flight FA103, a Boeing 737-400 aircraft, registration ZS-JRD, was forced to turn back to OR Tambo International on Sunday, about 25-mins into the flight due to reported loss of cabin pressure.
FlySafair plane was performing a flight from O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT).
About 25-minutes into the flight, as the aircraft reached approximately 32,000 feet‚ FlySafair Captain Lawrence Banda and First officer Charles Peck noted that the cabin pressure wasn’t stabilising as it should and that the aircraft was experiencing a very gradual loss of pressure.
FlySafair cockpit team decided to act cautiously and began safety procedures and a return to Johannesburg. These procedures included reducing speed‚ lowering altitude and releasing the passenger oxygen masks manually as a precautionary measure.
A FlySafair passenger said the captain announced for passengers to fasten seatbelts, repeating the words “Rapid descent, rapid descent, rapid descent”.
“The lights in the cabin went off completely. You could feel the descent and that the plane went in a nosedive, it was so severe it felt like my left-ear felt like was about to explode,” told FlySafair passenger.
FlySafair said in a statement that it was at this point that Captain Lawrence Banda and First officer Charles Peck noted that the cabin pressure wasn’t stabilizing as it should and that the aircraft was experiencing a very gradual loss of pressure. The nosedive as described by FlySafair flyer required the pilot to take the plane from about 32,000 feet down to an altitude of 10,000 feet – releasing the passenger oxygen masks manually as a precautionary measure.
FlySafair passengers, not knowing what was going on and expecting the worst – they scrambled to deal with the situation – as some oxygen masks allegedly fell to the ground and one passenger stating that his son “needed to pick up one from the floor.”
“The oxygen masks dropped and I was the only one screaming, saying ‘What’s going on, there is no oxygen?’ as I saw with my own two eyes one of the masks wasn’t even connected,” said one FlySafair passenger.
“It was then that the air stewardess started giving emergency instructions, but she herself looked terrified. I could feel myself having a panic attack, the passenger next to me tried to help me get the oxygen mask but I could feel myself about to pass out. It was then that she called for medical help and a qualified doctor who was sitting behind me left her seat and came to help. I’m told she stayed with me throughout the situation as I had passed out at this point.”
“The manner in which the pilot said rapid descent, rapid descent sounded like he was going to die.”
“Even before take-off I had an uneasy feeling about this flight,” FlySafair passenger said. “ Flight crew are trained to calm people down, to communicate the situation. I wasn’t even assisted off the plane, as I was shaking and could not walk properly. Passengers had to help me off.”
“I’ve flown all across the world and have never experienced anything like this, this was very unprofessional,” told another FlySafair passenger.
Another FlySafair guest told: “Most oxygen masks were detatched, none had flowing oxygen in them!”
FlySafair offered an apology to its customers in a statement.
A similar incident occurred on Friday morning where FlySafair flight FA202‚ also from Johannesburg to Cape Town‚ returned to Johannesburg‚ with a gradual loss of cabin pressure.
FlySafair confirmed the FA103 incident involved the same plane that had lost cabin pressure on Friday 22 January, just two days before on FlySafair Flight FA202.
FlySafair said its technical teams are presently investigating the source of the problem‚ “but say that early indications are that the two issues are not related.”
FlySafair CEO Elmar Conradie told: “What the crew did was exactly what they needed to do in order to make sure the passengers were safe. Although this was a terrible experience for the customer, the crew’s first and foremost priority was to ensure the safety of our passengers.”
Safety procedures included reducing speed, “lowering altitude and releasing the passenger oxygen masks manually as a precautionary measure.”
FlySafair went on to thank the captain and cabin crew for their “professionalism and strict adherence to our safety standards and acting in accordance with their strict training to ensure safety comes first.”
FlySafair explained “most passengers elected to continue on to Cape Town on a back-up aircraft while some others elected to take flights the next day or make alternate arrangements.”
FlySafair said the aircraft had undergone its last major service check on 25 November 2015 and that the plane does in fact undergo regular checks to ensure the plane is in working order.
Source ~ FlySafair Airlines
No comments:
Post a Comment