What happened in similar incidents in the past

ALTHOUGH the sequence of events in the cockpit of the crashed Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 remains a mystery, earlier incidents have shown the crucial importance of reacting promptly to airline depressurisations.

Flight International yesterday reported two previous incidents where the captain lost consciousness, leaving only the first officer flying the aircraft. And in both cases, a flight attendant collapsed in the cockpit.

In 1996, the captain of a Boeing 727 in the USA collapsed at 33,000 feet when he delayed putting on his oxygen mask while trouble-shooting a pressurisation problem probably caused by human error in using the system. The first officer’s problems were compounded by the fact that the flight engineer also collapsed and fell across the centre console.

And in 1998, the highly experienced captain of a UK-registered Boeing 737 lost consciousness at 35,000 feet when his oxygen mask became entangled with his spectacles as he tried to put it on. A flight attendant who tried to help him also collapsed.

Investigators found that a 17-year-old fatigue crack finally led to the failure of a cargo door at altitude.

On both occasions, the cabin emergency oxygen systems for passengers worked well and there were no casualties.

According to the Aviation Safety Network website, there have been “ten events involving at least one passenger death on a 737-300 where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role. Excluded would be events where the only passengers killed were stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs.”

Since 1990, there have been a total of 718 fatalities involving Boeing 737-300s.

The Boeing 737 is the world’s most popular medium range, narrow body commercial passenger jet aircraft. With 5,851 ordered and 4,867 delivered, it is the most ordered and produced commercial passenger jet aircraft of all time.

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