It was part scheduled 121. I have to admit sometimes when the FA makes a loud bang, it gets my attention.

Airways gives lip service to the idea of "customer service."


Friday, July 10, 2009, 9:36am EDT

US Airways near worst for complaints

Charlotte Business Journal

US Airways Group Inc. ranked next to last for customer complaints in May among the country’s 19 largest airlines, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

US Airways (NYSE:LCC), which operates its largest hub at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, received 1.34 complaints per 100,000 passengers.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) of Dallas was best, with 0.13 complaints for every 100,000 passengers.

Delta Air Lines (NYSEAL) had the worst rate for May, with 1.85 complaints per 100,000 passengers.

Arizona-based US Airways fared better in May for baggage handling and on-time performance, ranking eighth and 12th, respectively.

It mishandled 2.91 bags for every 1,000 passengers in May. US Airways had 79 percent of its flights on time that month.

US Airways operates 3,200 flights per day to more than 200 destinations in the Americas and Europe.

I do not know a single professional pilot that would have failed to report the incident you described.

Thanks for the early replies. You have no idea how helpful this is to me -- it is very distressing to have to deal with the front-end of the company. It is not pleasant to have somebody imply that you are crazy. I also appreciate the opportunity to talk to experts directly.

Thanks - I have thought about this since (from a medical point of view) and given the rapid descent, I question why they invest in the masks at all, other than for you guys in the front (given the insidious nature of hypoxic changes in judgment, etc.) given how rare decompressions are. It seems that a few minute descent from 39k feet would most likely not hurt anybody healthy enough to fly; if very rapid decompression we might go unconscious and wake up with a headache.

The funny thing is, there are many parallels between our industries. During and after the incident the pilot was honest, forthcoming, and straightforward, which gave everybody trust. The airline corporation's actions are cagy and builds resentment and suspicion. After any procedure, I tell the patient everything that happened and what we did, and will answer any and all questions they have even if the procedure was complicated by any number of factors -- patients appreciate honesty and understand that not everything can be straightforward. I have been indirectly told to never say anything about a patient's surgery by "defensive medicine" experts. I don't agree with this.

I'd guess a very similar dynamic.

Thanks, again very helpful. The descent was an experience out of the ordinary, very interesting. If the wings were tilted on the plane I'm sure people would have started shrieking. However, every motion was very well controlled, and the pilot was extremely professional and reassuring when updating us about the whole thing.

In all honesty, if he had not come on and shared any information with us, taking the airline PR approach, I'm sure everybody would have been terrified, angry, and suspicious. I have full confidence in the pilot and their actions, but am still confused about the lack of NTSB reporting. I would have liked to see this incident appear in the database; if it appeared I would have never contacted US Airways.

No problems -- I totally agree it might not have actually been 30 degrees, probably an overestimate. I couldn't see the horizon as it was still dark. The drop woke me up on the redeye though, and I was quite astonished as it was a sensation you don't experience outside of amusement parks! I thought it was just the "Continuous Descent Approach" that I had read about once, but was more steep than anything I had experienced in an airliner before.

Regarding the FAA - also thanks -- I might do this. Of course, my goal is not to be punitive, and I think that perhaps the PR department does not want to "acknowledge" anything for fear that I claim the hypoxia damaged me or something. (?) I'm not sure, but this IMHO is the wrong approach to take. I certainly hope the crew reported this; if nothing else a problematic or leaky cabin is probably not going to get better by itself?

As a pilot, the only paperwork I'd have filed if it happened to me would be an internal incident report and writing the problem up in the aircraft maintenance logbook....and I guess an report to ATC if requested. I'm not sure what the company requirements are but for pilots, contacting the NTSB isn't one of them.

No need to contact the NTSB on this one.

I had something similar to what cardiomd experienced during my CRJ days.

We had a pack deferred (thus single pack), and the second pack failed.

I noticed it in my ears first, then saw the screen and noted the second pack off annunciation- called it out to the CA... We donned our masks and did a rapid descent down to 10,000...ended up returning to MEM.

The cabin never got above 10,000 feet, as the CRJ was restricted to FL250 on a single pack.

I'll leave much of the rest of the details out, as it was a bit embarrassing- I did not agree with many of the captain's decisions and CRM in the process. Needless to say, he still works at the regional level....

Your right in your assumptions about why the pilots require masks. What most people don't know is that at 39,000ft (if I remember correctly from my flight physiology studies), the average person in "good" health has about 9 secs before hypoxia renders them basically useless. Smoking, alcohol, respiratory issues, etc can decrease that time significantly. After that, the amount of time till death is rather short, less than a minute i believe. Obviously as the aircraft descends the effective time increases but the time before death, I believe, stays rather constant. That is the reason for having masks for the passengers as well. Even just a couple minutes of hypoxia exposure (while descending as you suggest) from either a rapid or explosive decompression can be extremely dangerous.

I'm glad that your incident wasn't too serious. Slow decompression are pretty uneventful as long as they're caught early (something they didn't notice in the Payne Stewart accident). I hope my information helped and if it is wrong please correct me. Like I said, its been a little while since I look at this stuff.

Cheers!