Oxygen masks deployed on Air India flight: What happens after a plane loses cabin pressure?

Flyers on board an Air India Dubai-Kochi flight on Thursday had a nightmarish experience when the plane reported a loss in cabin pressure, forcing the pilot to divert the aircraft to Mumbai.

An incident of low pressure was reported in Air India Boeing Fleet B787, Flight No. AI- 934 (Dubai-Cochin). The flight was diverted to Mumbai and it landed safely. Two senior officers of O/o DAS WR are assigned the task to carry out a preliminary investigation: DGCA pic.twitter.com/6p9FCdkALd

— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2022

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has grounded the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft and off-rostered the flight’s crew following the incident.

We examine what happened on the flight, and the effects of loss of cabin pressure on the body.

The incident

On Thursday, Flight AI 934 took off from Dubai to Kochi with 247 passengers and 11 crew members as scheduled.

During the flight, the pilot observed a loss in cabin pressure and immediately contacted the integrated operations control centre (IOCC) of the airline as well as the air traffic controller. The pilots also descended the aircraft to 10,000 feet.

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Oxygen masks were deployed so that passengers don’t face any discomfort and the plane was allowed to divert to the nearest airport, in this case, Mumbai, and it landed safely.

Confirming the incident, an Air India spokesperson said in a statement: “Flight AI 934 operating from Dubai to Cochin was diverted to Mumbai today due to a technical issue. The B787 aircraft landed safely at Mumbai at 1912 hrs with 247 passengers and crew. An alternate aircraft is being arranged to carry passengers from Mumbai to Kochi. The matter has been reported to the DGCA.”

The aviation regulator, DGCA, has tasked two senior officers to investigate the incident and in the meantime, grounded the Dreamliner involved in the incident and off-rostered the crew pending investigation.

Cabin pressure and why it’s so important

The loss in cabin pressure is a serious flight safety risk that pilots are trained to respond to immediately.

Air at higher altitudes is under less pressure and is therefore harder to inhale. To allow travellers to breathe when the outside air pressure is extremely low, airplane cabins are pressurised to maintain a constant cabin altitude of 8,500 feet. Even at this artificial altitude, the oxygen level is about 25 per cent less than at sea level.

When the air pressure drops, it could feel scary and a sense of panic does creep in.

However, pilots and crew members state that keeping calm is the first step and one should clearly listen to the crew as they are trained for such situations.

Aviation safety experts agree and say that all passengers should put on their oxygen masks when they drop down before doing anything else.

This is because the brain is particularly sensitive to hypoxia. The ability to think and consider one’s actions becomes seriously impaired. A major problem is that an affected person may be unaware that he or she is hypoxic, instead feeling a sense of euphoria and not being able to accomplish simple tasks.

A lack of oxygen can lead to hypoxia, a condition where the amount of oxygen reaching the body tissues gradually drops; a dramatic decrease in oxygen pressure eventually leads to unconsciousness and death.

The Federal Aviation Administration has said that ability to take corrective and protective action is lost in 20 to 30 minutes at 18,000 feet and five to 12 minutes at 20,000 feet, followed soon thereafter by unconsciousness.

Many commercial planes fly at an altitude around 35,000 feet and that level one has around 30 seconds to a minute to make rational decisions.

When does a plane lose cabin pressure?

There are multiple reasons why a plane loses cabin pressure, though most of the times it’s because some kind of damage has occurred and the airtight seal keeping the pressure inside the aircraft is broken.

When planes lost cabin pressure

This isn’t the first time that a plane has lost cabin pressure, leading to panic among the flyers.

In September 2018, a Jet Airways flight on a Boeing 737 en route to Jaipur from Mumbai had to turn back shortly after take-off. This happened as there was an error in maintaining the cabin air pressure, which led to the deployment of oxygen masks and some passengers bleeding from their nose and ears.

Panic situation due to technical fault in @jetairways 9W 0697 going from Mumbai to Jaipur. Flt return back to Mumbai after 45 mts. All passengers are safe including me. pic.twitter.com/lnOaFbcaps

— Darshak Hathi (@DarshakHathi) September 20, 2018

In 2017, an AirAsia flight from Australia to Indonesia was diverted to Perth because of low pressure.

Back in 2008, 16 passengers on board a Ryanair flight from Bristol to Barcelona-Girona had to be hospitalised after the airplane experienced a drop in cabin pressure, leading to an emergency descent.

Prior to all these incidents was the horrific incident of 2005 when Cypriot airline Helios Airways lost cabin pressure, leading to hypoxia in the crew. After the plane crossed 30,000 feet, most crew and passengers fell unconscious and eventually the aircraft depleted its fuel and crashed in Greece, killing all 121 on board.

With inputs from agencies

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