Posted on 01/29/2016 1:40:56 PM PST by bigtoona
American Airlines forced to ground a plane for the second time after members of the crew and passengers on board suffered from a mystery illness
Unnerved passengers feared for their lives after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing when passengers and crew passed out mid-flight.
The American Airlines flight, which was flying from Brazil to the United States, was travelling at a height of more than 30,000ft when three members of staff became ill.
This is the second time this week that the US airline has been forced to ground a plane as a result of a mystery illness on board .
According to reports, Flight 904 which left Rio de Janeiro for Miami around 11pm yesterday, but was forced to change direction and land in Brasilia, Brazil.
Four people complained of lightheadedness sparking fears there could be contaminated air on board.
Pilots were then forced to ground the plane 580 miles away from its destination.
A source said: ""We made an emergency landing because crew members and passengers passed out and became unwell.
"It sounds exactly like what happened on the other flight with us not being allowed off the plane for two hours.
"One of the crew said something about oven cleaner reacting badly."
The Boeing 777 aircraft is believed to be the same as another one which was grounded following a 'medical emergency' on Wednesday.
The plane - a Boeing 777 - is thought to be the same model as the one that was forced to divert back to London Heathrow following a 'medical emergency' on Wednesday.
The American Airlines flight which had been scheduled to land in Los Angeles, California turned back to London after 15 people on board fell ill.
(Excerpt) Read more at mirror.co.uk ...
“This really sounds like a pressurization problem...lack of oxygen ....note that the people moving around the most were affected first..”
If there was a pressurization problem would there not be a cabin altitude alert in the cockpit and the automatic deployment of the oxygen masks?
I didn’t look up the field or the stats for a 777. Since this stuff happened to the same model plane at the same time that belonged to the same airline we gotta figure it connects to something American is doing maintenance wise or else a bit of sabotage. The oven cleaner angle is a real possibility. Maybe they went to some green eco chemical.
If my Dad was alive I would ask him about the field though it has been 50+ years since he was stationed there. They had F89 Scorpions then. He said they had to do FOD sweeps a lot since the wind blew so hard that lava rocks would actually blow across the runways. Especially bad for the Scorpions with the low mounted intakes.
“It is likely a slow leak from a pressure seal. This can happen because of dry rot, or an improper lubricant got into the seal, or just because it was not swapped out after its expiration date.”
Why wouldn’t a leak generate a cabin altitude alert light in the cockpit and cause the oxygen masks to deploy?
I don’t work and only fly for vacations occasionally. All the stuff going on in the world makes me want to just stay home!
It's worth taking a look at the galley and particularly the food heating equipment. A few meals sabotaged to release toxin when heated could do the deed. Better check ground handling of foodstuffs, too.
Hmm. Different planes so it’s not likely to be oven cleaner on both. Both planes taking off from Brazil...
Runway is two miles long and density altitude is...real dense.
If there was a system issue to the type not necessarily, I’m wondering if there was a Airworthiness Order on the pressure system ..
I used to do it with the kids on night flights back from Disney World....
Our plane wasn’t pressureized and after the day at Disney, the kids were bouncing off the walls... I’d take the plane up to 8,000 ft for a very short time and they would calm down and get sleepy... then I would request a lower altitude around 5,000 ft...
Too bad i couldn’t do that with the house....
sarin in an enclosed space like an airplane would not leave survivors. Mustard gas should leave chemical burns or pneumonitis visible on x-ray. This honestly sounds more like hysteria
That is a good question, but I suspect that the leak is so slow that crew and passengers might start feeling some symptoms of hypoxia before it would trigger a warning.
Remember that typically a higher altitude commercial aircraft might move from 1 atmosphere (a little more than 1 bar) external pressure at ground level to 40,000 feet where the external pressure is only .2 bar. Thus the depressurization alarm has to adjust accordingly to not just cabin changes at takeoff and landing, but to adjustments in altitude while flying.
The reason that cabin crew may be more prone to slight changes outside of the typical is that they are upright and working, whereas most passengers are sitting down. Just a thought.
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