Cabin Pressure

An America West airliner bound for Las Vegas with 47 passengers on board returned safely to John Wayne Airport after experiencing pressurization problems following takeoff Monday, airline officials said. The Boeing 737-300 returned shortly after departing at 2:10 p.m. because it could not maintain constant air pressure inside the cabin, according to America West spokesman Mike Mitchell. The aircraft, which can seat 129 passengers, landed at John Wayne Airport without difficulty.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Kansas City to Dallas on Saturday lost cabin pressure, forcing passengers and crew to wear oxygen masks for about 20 minutes until the plane had descended to a safe altitude. No injuries were reported on Flight 3201, which landed safely at Love Field in Dallas, spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger told the Associated Press. The flight, carrying 124 passengers and a crew of five, lost pressure at 35,000 feet. The masks deployed and about 20 minutes later, the craft descended below 10,000 feet.

Infants whose breathing ability is already impaired by respiratory infections may suffer sharp drops in oxygen levels in their bloodstreams when they encounter the reduced cabin pressure in airplanes, a British physician reports in the March 21 British Medical Journal. Such oxygen deficits have been associated with sudden infant death syndrome. Dr.

Question : In January, my husband and I flew to Rio de Janeiro from LAX, as we have done many times. But this time, something unusual happened. We had never had jet lag like this before, and we had it at both ends of the trip. If it had been just one of us, I might have thought one of us was coming down with something. The fact that it happened to both of us, both ways, same symptoms, makes me wonder whether they might be pressurizing the plane differently. Is it possible that caused our jet lag?

An American Airlines jet lost cabin pressure after an outer windshield was blown away as it approached Metro Nashville airport, airline officials said. When the outer windshield on Flight 821 blew away Monday, the pilot flipped a switch to drop oxygen masks in the cabin, said Jim Brown, a spokesman for American. No injuries were reported.

A loss of cabin pressure Wednesday forced an Eastern Airlines DC-9 with 63 passengers and five crew members aboard to drop 26,000 feet over northeast Georgia, officials said. The plane, en route to Atlanta from Cleveland, landed here safely at Hartsfield International Airport.

A Thai Airways A-300 Airbus with 247 people aboard plunged almost 25,000 feet Sunday night after suddenly losing cabin pressure over southwestern Japan, and 62 people were injured, 14 seriously, before the aircraft landed safely at Osaka airport, authorities said. Japanese news reports said that Flight 620, en route to Osaka from Bangkok, made the emergency dive after what passengers described as a "big bang."

Southwest Airlines' older aircraft plus its famously efficient short-haul operations — requiring planes to fly an average of six times a day — probably contributed to the fuselage rupture that forced a jetliner carrying 118 passengers to make an emergency landing in Arizona last week. Aviation experts said the aluminum skin of the 15-year-old Boeing 737-300 could have become fatigued from the stress of daily landings and takeoffs as well as frequent changes in cabin pressure.

The seven crew members of the space shuttle Challenger probably remained conscious for at least 10 seconds after the disastrous Jan. 28 explosion and they switched on at least three emergency breathing packs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Monday.

A Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727, en route to Los Angeles from Mexico City with Easter holiday travelers, crashed and burned Monday in the mountains west of the Mexican capital after the craft apparently lost cabin pressure and the pilot made an emergency descent. All 166 people aboard were reported dead.

Southwest Airlines' older aircraft plus its famously efficient short-haul operations — requiring planes to fly an average of six times a day — probably contributed to the fuselage rupture that forced a jetliner carrying 118 passengers to make an emergency landing in Arizona last week. Aviation experts said the aluminum skin of the 15-year-old Boeing 737-300 could have become fatigued from the stress of daily landings and takeoffs as well as frequent changes in cabin pressure.

A Southwest Airlines flight with 118 passengers made an emergency landing Friday in Yuma, Ariz., after a rapid loss of cabin pressure, and the crew found a hole in the top of the fuselage, according to the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration. Photos: Hole opens up in plane during flight A flight attendant was slightly injured during the steep descent, but no passengers were hurt on Flight 812 from Phoenix to Sacramento, the airline said. The Boeing 737 landed safely at 4:07 p.m. at Yuma International Airport, according to the FAA. The pilot "made a rapid, controlled descent" from 36,000 feet to 11,000 feet after the loss of cabin pressure.

Allow me to provide our point of view for readers of The Times regarding "A Skeptic Under Pressure" (Sept. 27), which stated "there is no manual override system" for the Airbus A380 cabin pressurization system. The new A380 aircraft does feature a highly advanced manual override system -- one that is different from and represents an improvement over previous designs. Traditional aircraft typically have two pressurization valves with automated controls to achieve correct cabin pressure.

Ever since the Mangans gave up their comfortable house in Kansas City, Kan., and moved here a year ago, the family has been living in a kind of suspended animation. It almost looks as if they just moved into their two-bedroom apartment near Austria's old Imperial Palace: Some boxes shipped from the U.S. have never been opened and the bedroom windows are still covered with sheets because the family ran short of money before they could buy curtains.

Investigators trying to determine why a Cypriot airliner crashed in the Greek mountains focused Tuesday on reports of previous technical problems, with Cyprus' transport minister and a former airline mechanic saying the jet had lost cabin pressure on another flight. Greek state TV quoted the transport minister as saying the plane had previous decompression problems.

High in the skies above the Aegean Sea, two Greek fighter pilots nudged their F-16s to either side of a Cypriot passenger jet and quickly discerned the disaster that was unfolding. They saw a cockpit in turmoil. One of the Cypriot pilots sat slumped over the instrument panel. The other was not visible at all. Two other people desperately tried to gain control of the plane. Oxygen masks dangled in the cabin.

Ever since the Mangans gave up their comfortable house in Kansas City, Kan., and moved here a year ago, the family has been living in a kind of suspended animation. It almost looks as if they just moved into their two-bedroom apartment near Austria's old Imperial Palace: Some boxes shipped from the U.S. have never been opened and the bedroom windows are still covered with sheets because the family ran short of money before they could buy curtains.

A United Airlines jet carrying Democratic presidential aspirant Richard A. Gephardt suddenly lost cabin pressure, forcing passengers to use oxygen masks and the pilot to return to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Missouri Rep. Gephardt and several members of his campaign staff were among the 37 passengers and five crew members aboard the flight from Chicago to Omaha when the Boeing 737's cabin pressure dropped. "There were no injuries," United spokesman Rob Doughty said.

Nine passengers were injured Wednesday morning when their Florida-bound United Airlines jet lost cabin pressure less than an hour into the flight, forcing the pilot to return to Los Angeles International Airport. Those hurt aboard Flight 100 mainly suffered nosebleeds and earaches, according to Los Angeles City fire officials. Four were taken to a nearby clinic and two to a hospital for treatment. At least one of the injured was a child, United Airlines said.

Good theater stimulates a cycle of tension and attention. If onstage events are sufficiently compelling to maintain a level of vicarious tension within the audience, the audience responds by focusing its attention on those events. The fact that theater is happening in the present moment, unlike canned entertainments, should intensify both the tension and the attention.