Citing an incident in which a Boeing 737 cargo plane did not pressurize as expected, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is warning pilots and maintenance personnel about the risks of using equipment for unintended purposes.
In a report released Tuesday, the ATSB described the Nov. 4, 2021, flight from Darwin, Northern Territory, to Brisbane, Queensland, during which the indicated cabin altitude climbed more quickly than usual.
The afternoon of the incident, the Airwork Flight Operations flight crew arrived around 1630 local time to conduct preflight checks. A maintenance engineer who had been on the flight deck conducting other preflight procedures left to allow the crew to prepare for the flight.
The airplane departed from Darwin at 1754, and the crew soon determined that the pressurization system was not working correctly. The pilots stopped the 737’s climb at 11,000 ft and began a descent to 10,000 ft. Around 1800 local time, as the airplane desc…
