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| Date: | Thursday 23 February 2017 |
| Time: | 22:54 |
| Type: |  Airbus A340-642 |
| Owner/operator: | Virgin Atlantic |
| Registration: | G-VGAS |
| MSN: | 639 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2005 |
| Engine model: | Rolls-Royce Trent 556-61 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 212 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | North Atlantic, approx. 200 nm NE of Boston, Massachusetts -
 Atlantic Ocean
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| John F Kennedy Airport, New York (JFK/KJFK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
AAIB investigation to Airbus A340-642, G-VGAS: Warning of excess cabin altitude during the cruise, en route from London Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, USA, 23 February 2017. The incident was deemed serious enough to warrant an AAIB Investigation, and the following is the summary from the AAIB Report:
"G-VGAS departed London Heathrow Airport at 1600 hrs for a commercial air transport flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, USA, with 212 on board (198 passengers and 14 crew). At 22:54 hrs, the aircraft was at FL 400, approximately 200 nautical miles north-east of Boston, Massachusetts, when the CAB PR EXCESS CAB ALT warning was displayed on the ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitoring system), indicating an excessive cabin altitude. Although the pressurisation system display indicated no abnormalities, the ECAM warning remained, and two crew members and both pilots believed they had symptoms of hypoxia
The pilots began a descent but, when passing FL 260 (26,000 feet), the ECAM warning extinguished. The pilots elected to level off at FL 250 (25,000 feet) and continue towards their destination but, after approximately 30 minutes, the ECAM warning returned. Indications on the pressurisation system display were still normal but the pilots descended the aircraft to an altitude of 11,000 feet and, again, decided to continue to the destination where the aircraft landed without further incident.
=Assessment of cause=
Data from the aircraft showed that there was a Cabin Pressure Controller 1 (CPC1) fault at the same time as the first CAB PR EXCESS CAB ALT warning. Engineers suspected that the CPC1 had failed in such a way as to drive the outflow valves open, thus allowing the cabin altitude to increase (the warning is triggered when the cabin altitude exceeds 9,550 feet).
On inspection, five components within the CPC were found to be defective due to wear but the failure mode suspected by the engineers was not identified conclusively".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/59afec2740f0b6173e8d2d71/Airbus_A340-642_G-VGAS_09-17.pdf
2. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-VGAS/414933
3. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR9/history/20170223/1600Z/EGLL/KJFK
4. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-VGAS.html
Media:
G-VGAS Airbus A340-642 at London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) 29 December 2016
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-May-2024 07:38 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 15-May-2024 07:40 | ASN | Updated [Location, Country, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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