Flight to Seattle diverted after mid-air decompression
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- An Alaska Airlines flight heading to Seattle made an emergency landing in California on Wednesday after losing cabin pressure during an electrical failure, officials said.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Alaska flight 539 was diverted to Mineta San Jose International Airport and landed safely at 7:42 a.m. after declaring an emergency.
San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mary Gutierrez said the crew of the Boeing 737-400 reported the decompression and electrical failure about 40 minutes after taking off from Ontario, California. Alaska officials say the crew was able to manually pressurize the cabin and descend to 10,000 feet.
Medics met the plane on the ground and checked to make sure there were no issues with passengers, Gutierrez said, but no one was hurt.
However, some passengers complained of intense ear pain as the pressure dropped inside the cabin.
"All of a sudden, my ears, it was just horrible," said 89-year-old Audrey Kirkner. "I've never had anything like that in my whole life, and I've flown for years."
Dean Hunter added, "everyone's ears were getting plugged up and trying to regulate their ears. There were babies crying and even some adults crying from the pain in the ears."
Alaska spokesperson Paul McElroy said the problem stemmed from the air/ground sensor, which is designed to tell the plane whether it's on the ground or in the air.
When the sensor malfunctioned at 25,000 feet, the plane thought it was on the ground and turned off the automatic flight controls, McElroy said. But pilots were able to immediately take over manual control and there was no loss of altitude or speed.
The sensor also turned off the cabin pressurization, assuming the plane was on the ground, but a back-up system kicked in immediately and oxygen masks didn't need to be deployed, McElroy said.
ABC News Aviation Consultant Steve Ganyard commended the pilots for the way they handled the situation.
"(Air/ground sensor malfunction) can be something very significant but in this case the pilots did a great job," Ganyard said. "They were trained to handle these sorts of situations and brought the airplane back safely."
It was not clear what caused the electrical problem on the aircraft, which had 136 passengers and five crew members on board.
"We have pulled the aircraft from service and the plane will undergo a very detailed inspection before we ever put it back into service," said Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan.
The passengers were being rebooked on other flights to Seattle.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said Alaska flight 539 was diverted to Mineta San Jose International Airport and landed safely at 7:42 a.m. after declaring an emergency.
San Jose Fire Department Capt. Mary Gutierrez said the crew of the Boeing 737-400 reported the decompression and electrical failure about 40 minutes after taking off from Ontario, California. Alaska officials say the crew was able to manually pressurize the cabin and descend to 10,000 feet.
Medics met the plane on the ground and checked to make sure there were no issues with passengers, Gutierrez said, but no one was hurt.
However, some passengers complained of intense ear pain as the pressure dropped inside the cabin.
"All of a sudden, my ears, it was just horrible," said 89-year-old Audrey Kirkner. "I've never had anything like that in my whole life, and I've flown for years."
Dean Hunter added, "everyone's ears were getting plugged up and trying to regulate their ears. There were babies crying and even some adults crying from the pain in the ears."
Alaska spokesperson Paul McElroy said the problem stemmed from the air/ground sensor, which is designed to tell the plane whether it's on the ground or in the air.
When the sensor malfunctioned at 25,000 feet, the plane thought it was on the ground and turned off the automatic flight controls, McElroy said. But pilots were able to immediately take over manual control and there was no loss of altitude or speed.
The sensor also turned off the cabin pressurization, assuming the plane was on the ground, but a back-up system kicked in immediately and oxygen masks didn't need to be deployed, McElroy said.
ABC News Aviation Consultant Steve Ganyard commended the pilots for the way they handled the situation.
"(Air/ground sensor malfunction) can be something very significant but in this case the pilots did a great job," Ganyard said. "They were trained to handle these sorts of situations and brought the airplane back safely."
It was not clear what caused the electrical problem on the aircraft, which had 136 passengers and five crew members on board.
"We have pulled the aircraft from service and the plane will undergo a very detailed inspection before we ever put it back into service," said Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan.
The passengers were being rebooked on other flights to Seattle.
This happened to a plane I was on when I was a kid. We went back to the airport got a free dinner. Then left again about 3 hours later. It did not make the news.
Yep i just don't trust somebody saying "We won't ever put the plane back into service until detailed inspections
could be done" Excuse me please but don't planes already get detailed inspections? It's not like the battery connection is loose this thing flys at 40,000 feet =)(