A320, vicinity Dublin Ireland, 2015

A320, vicinity Dublin Ireland, 2015

Summary

On 3 October 2015, an Airbus A320 which had just taken off from Dublin experienced fumes from the air conditioning system in both flight deck and cabin. A 'PAN' was declared and the aircraft returned with both pilots making precautionary use of their oxygen masks. The Investigation found that routine engine pressure washes carried out prior to departure have been incorrectly performed and a contaminant was introduced into the bleed air supply to the air conditioning system as a result. The context for the error was found to be the absence of any engine wash procedure training for the Operator's engineers.

Description

On 3 October 2015, an Airbus A320 (EI-DVJ) operating a scheduled international passenger flight from Dublin to Munich had just taken off when noxious fumes became apparent throughout the aircraft and a 'smoke-like effect' was observed in the cabin. The effects fluctuated but continued and a PAN for an air turnback was declared to ATC with the pilots donning oxygen masks as a precaution. The aircraft landed back at Dublin just over 20 minutes later and after an unexpected delay due to absence of ground staff, the doors were opened and all occupants were disembarked. The episode had no identifiable injurious effects on the 148 passengers or 6 crew members.

Investigation

The event was investigated by the Irish AAIU.

It was noted that the 40 year-old male aircraft commander, who had been PF for the flight, had 10,523 total flying hours which included 6,691 hours on type. The 27 year-old female First Officer had 2,067 total flying hours which included 1,771 hours on type. Both pilots held licences issued by the Irish Aviation Authority.

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