Air crew ‘panicked’ on flight to Bali
Print Edition
Passengers on an Indonesia AirAsia flight from Australia to the holiday island of Bali described a scary flight on Sunday when the crew panicked.
Airline staff announced an emergency and oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling after the airliner lost cabin air pressure and rapidly descended.
Flight QZ535 returned safely on Sunday to the Perth, West Australian airport, where many of the 145 passengers spoke to media about the fear and confusion on board.
“The panic was escalated because of the behavior of staff who were screaming, looked tearful and shocked,” said passenger Clare Askew.
“We looked to them for reassurance and we didn’t get any, we were more worried because of how panicked they were.”
The budget airline said the pilot turned back “following a technical issue” to ensure the safety of passengers.
“We commend our pilots for landing the aircraft safely and complying with standard operating procedure,” AirAsia Group head of safety Captain Ling Liong Tien said.
“We are fully committed to the safety of our guests and crew and we will continue to ensure that we adhere to the highest safety standards,” he added.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, an accident investigator, said it was investigating the airliner’s depressurization at 10,363 meters.
The plane rapidly descended to around 3,048 meters, an altitude to which cabins are pressurized and at which oxygen masks are no longer needed.
Data from FlightRadar, a website that tracks flights globally using GPS, shows the plane descended 7,250 meters in the space of nine minutes.
Perth Airport said that emergency services were on hand when the plane landed 78 minutes after it took off.
A passenger named Leah told Nine Network television: “I actually picked up my phone and sent a text message to my family, just hoping that they would get it. We were all pretty much saying goodbye to each other. It was really upsetting.”
Another passenger Mark Bailey told Seven Network television: “Hostesses started screaming: ‘Emergency, emergency.’ They just went hysterical. There was no real panic before that, then everyone panicked.”
Peter Gibson, spokesman for Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the Australian industry regulator, said the airline had been asked for information on what had occurred on board.
“Our job as the regulator is to gather information on these sorts of events and review that to see whether we’re satisfied that everything was managed properly and determine whether we should dig any deeper,” Gibson said.
A Malaysia-based AirAsia X flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur turned back in June after one of the Airbus 330’s engines failed.
An aircrew member was criticized for suggesting that passengers pray.
Indonesia AirAsia said passengers on Sunday’s aborted flight had been transferred to the next available flight and “provided with all necessary assistance.”
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