A Mumbai-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight was forced to make an emergency landing in the early hours of Friday morning after a mid-air depressurization incident caused seven passengers to fall ill. The flight, operated by Ethiopian Airlines (Flight ET640), was en route from Addis Ababa and was cruising at an altitude of approximately 33,000 feet over the Arabian Sea when the cabin pressure issue arose.
Upon experiencing the depressurization problem, the flight crew initiated a rapid descent to a lower, safer altitude, a standard emergency procedure designed to mitigate the effects of reduced cabin pressure. The aircraft landed safely at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at around 1:42 AM IST.
Immediately upon landing, airport medical teams were on standby to attend to the affected passengers. Seven individuals were treated for symptoms consistent with decompression-related issues, including dizziness, nausea, and light-headedness. One passenger reportedly required hospitalization, though their condition is not immediately known. Fortunately, there were no fatalities reported, and the swift response from both the flight crew and ground medical personnel ensured that the situation was managed effectively.
Cabin pressurization is a critical system in modern aircraft, maintaining an environment inside the plane that is physiologically suitable for human life, especially at high cruising altitudes where external air pressure and oxygen levels are dangerously low. When this system malfunctions, as appears to have happened in this incident, the drop in cabin pressure can lead to hypoxia (lack of oxygen), causing various physical symptoms and, in severe cases, loss of consciousness. Pilots are rigorously trained to handle such emergencies, including deploying oxygen masks and initiating rapid descents.
This incident comes just days after a similar occurrence on an Air India flight from London to Mumbai on June 24, where several passengers and crew members reported feeling unwell. While the exact cause of the Air India incident is still under investigation, an airline official, speaking anonymously, had suggested it could be due to a gradual decrease in cabin pressure or slow decompression. These recent events have naturally raised questions and renewed concerns regarding aviation safety protocols, particularly concerning cabin pressurization systems on long-haul flights.
Aviation authorities are expected to launch a full investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines incident to determine the precise cause of the depressurization. This will likely involve examining the aircraft’s maintenance records, flight data recorders, and cockpit voice recorders. The findings of such investigations are crucial for enhancing aviation safety standards and preventing similar occurrences in the future.