B763, en-route, Galicia Spain, 2022

B763, en-route, Galicia Spain, 2022

Summary

On 8 February 2022, a Boeing 767-300ER inbound to Madrid at FL340 experienced a failure of automatic pressurisation control, followed almost three hours later by a failure of manual control and rapidly rising cabin altitude. An emergency was declared and descent made to FL120 where manual control was regained. The flight was completed without recurrence. The failure cause was found to have been water leaking from a tube with a broken clamp which, when it froze, had blocked the air conditioning outflow valve doors. Elements of the system design, scheduled maintenance requirements, and fault detection were identified as contributing factors.

Description

On 8 February 2022, a Boeing 767-300ER (N1602) operated by Delta Air Lines on a scheduled international passenger overnight flight from New York JFK to Madrid as DAL126 was over the eastern Atlantic Ocean when a failure of the automatic pressurisation system required the crew to revert to manual control. This method of control subsequently failed when still at FL 380 and an emergency was declared and an emergency descent to 10,000 feet initiated. Manual control was regained at FL120. The emergency was then cancelled and a brief climb to a higher level (FL280) was made for fuel efficiency and increased terrain clearance. Further pressurisation problems did not occur during descent into Madrid.

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