Flight turns back with cabin pressure glitch

A CYPRUS Airways (CY) flight from Larnaca to Salonica was forced to turn back to base on Sunday night shortly into the flight, after a problem was found with a decompression switch, the airline said yesterday.

A spokesman for the airline said the pilot had noticed a problem with the valve shortly after take off and had descended to 10,000 feet to check out the aircraft’s system.

“There was an anomaly in the cabin pressure system and the captain decided to take the plane to 10,000 feet, which is a level where you can check out the system without endangering the safety of the flight,” said the spokesman. “When he saw it wasn’t working properly, he went back to base.”

Back in Larnaca, engineers found that the valve to regulate cabin pressure wasn’t closing properly. The problem was repaired and the plane took off for Salonica three hours later.

“The aircraft had no problem landing at Larnaca,” said the spokesman. He also denied reports that there had been panic on the aircraft and that the oxygen masks had lowered. “My information is that the masks were not used,” he said. “If the masks had dropped it would have meant a serious problem with the plane.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.