Gazenvagen at discretion: why airlines keep passengers without ventilation

Let us remind you that the flight was delayed without providing the cabin with air conditioning; the passenger opened the escape hatch, unable to withstand the stuffiness. Novye Izvestia figures out who is really to blame.

Irina Mishina

This situation is familiar to many. Landing is announced, passengers are filling the cabin, but then an agonizing wait begins. Without air conditioning, in stuffy atmosphere, with the screams of children and requests to the crew for help. After landing, the situation is often the same. No one has tried to find out the reasons for this yet - many forgot about what happened immediately after takeoff or a safe disembarkation from the plane.

This is exactly what happened on the Boeing 747 on 11 July. The flight was supposed to go to Antalya - people flew to Turkey to rest. However, for technical reasons, the board was delayed in the parking lot. The southern heat hit the tourists a little earlier than they had planned. The air conditioning system did not work, for some reason hot air went out, people were suffocating in an airtight cabin without oxygen. According to the "NI" correspondent who flew on this flight, the torture lasted for almost an hour. It all ended with the fact that one of the passengers opened the emergency hatch, from where the inflatable ladder fell out automatically. But for some reason he was blown away, which also raises many questions.

Vladimir Kuznetsov , who opened this very hatch, explained his act by feeling bad. His story was published by the Life Shot Telegram channel:

“We sat in the stuffy atmosphere for at least an hour. It was just a general air conditioning system, from which warm air was blowing. In the salon - the effect of a sauna. At one point everything went out, only the emergency lamps worked, and everything began to flash. Hot air starts to blow. People have panic, old people have heartache, mothers and children scream loudly. I went to look for a flight attendant again, because I myself was beginning to faint".

In response, Elena Markovskaya, a representative of the Moscow Interregional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Transport, said:

“As part of the pre-investigation check, the investigation will give a legal assessment of both the actions of the man who unauthorizedly opened the door and the actions of the airline employees who allowed passengers to be on board the liner when the air conditioning system was inoperative.”

Rossiya Airlines, meanwhile, was not at a loss and presented a multimillion-dollar fine to Vladimir Kuznetsov, who opened the spare hatch. For a delayed flight and a torn ladder, the airline is ready to demand millions of rubles in compensation. But in social networks, a flash mob began in support of the teachers of the conservatory, who opened this very hatch and gave access to the air for the panting passengers.

Olegben: "In fact, I did it right. I got into a similar situation. The airline puts people on the plane knowingly about the delay, so as not to occupy the airport, not to provide them with food and a place to rest. In fact, they are being held hostages".

Login0false: "People did everything right, those who allowed the operation of transport in an improper condition (taking into account weather conditions) should be fined".

"NI" appealed to the Federal Air Transport Agency with a request to clarify the reasons for the incident at the Sheremetyevo airport. Yelena Mikheyeva, advisor to the head, said:

“I'm not sure there is any regulation that determines the time that passengers can be without air conditioning. There are some general rules, apparently, but each specific airline approves them itself. We need to find out if this airline has any rules of its own ”.

Well, the answer is quite predictable. The federal structure, as is customary in our country, is absolutely not responsible for anything. Also, the adviser to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency advised us to study the Federal Aviation Regulations. According to her, it may contain “some kind of regulation”. But after studying this document, we did not find anything that would relate to the provision of normal climatic conditions in the aircraft cabin.

“There are no standards in the FAP on this issue. As for the crew, in such a situation, the flight attendant has no right to open the door of his own free will. There is no ladder at the door - the doors are closed! In the Boeing 747, the doors are located at a height of 16 meters, how can they be opened when the gangway has not arrived? In this case, the commander contacts his airline and the company is already deciding the issue with the airport services for air conditioning the cabin, if there is a failure", - explained to NI, pilot-instructor of Pobeda Airlines and Captain B-777 (nordwind airlines) Aleksey Kochemasov.

This is how a professional civil aviation pilot with many years of experience sees the situation:

“The plane has an additional jet engine - a service power source. But it happens that he broke. However, this is not a reason not to fly. In this case, ground air conditioners may operate. In such abnormal situations, the pilot usually contacts the airline, and she resolves this issue. There is an air conditioning service source at the airport. I saw such a car next to the side, but why it was not launched is not clear. The incident cannot be blamed on the pilot, the Boeing-747 has a cockpit without vents, he was in the same hell as the passengers. The crew had no right to open the doors, the height is about 16 meters, there is no ladder nearby, people could break", - Aleksey Kochemasov explained to us.

Novye Izvestia sent a request to the “Rossiya” airline with a request to explain what actions the aircraft crew took in this emergency situation, why the service power source and ground air conditioning sources were not involved. We got the following response:

“The cooling of the aircraft before and during the landing of passengers was carried out from a ground air conditioner, which was provided by the Sheremetyevo Handling organization serving all flights of“ Russia ”. After the door was closed and the flight attendants moved the emergency ladders to the AUTO position, the ground source of air conditioning was turned off and repositioned, and an air launch unit was installed in its place. This installation provides pneumatic starting of aircraft engines. The ground power supply failed during the start attempt. It took Sheremetyevo Handling about ten minutes to replace the ground power supply. Despite the deep night, the temperature inside the plane began to rise. The passenger in seat 70C went to the front door (2L) and raised the handle to open it. As a result, the ladder was automatically released. When deployed, it tore, hitting the air launch unit located on the apron near the aircraft. By a lucky coincidence, there were no workers of the apron services near the gangway and the gangway from the apron equipment did not catch fire. Rossiya regrets that the passengers of the flight became unwitting witnesses and participants in the situation, which, due to the actions of one of the passengers, ended with the replacement of the aircraft. The airline apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the temperature in the cabin. The company's staff did everything possible to reduce the delay in the departure of the flight on the reserve aircraft. At the moment, employees of the competent authorities are investigating the incident. Until their conclusions, the airline asks representatives of public organizations and the blogosphere not to speculate on the current situation".

It follows from this that the internal APU (auxiliary power unit) in the aircraft was not used, it was out of order. And the ground-based air launch facility failed. And such a plane was supposed to carry about 500 tons of passengers! Apparently, the ground services began to look for other possibilities - to replace the ground power source, but then the passenger could not stand the torture of the hot air and opened the emergency hatch, after which the plane could no longer take off. The airline's version that the search for an alternative power source took about 10 minutes somehow does not coincide with the testimony of passengers who were suffocating in the cabin with hot air, according to them, for about an hour.

Conclusions from what happened, of course, will be made by law enforcement agencies. But even without this, it is already obvious that passenger aircraft with malfunctions are launched into flight, and the airport is not always ready to provide the necessary assistance in a timely manner. As usual, the blame for everything is the passengers themselves, who have to pay for air tickets and pay for faulty planes.

It is obvious that faulty or disconnected air conditioning systems in airplanes endanger the lives and health of passengers, so air carriers should be responsible for the correctness and regular operation of climate systems. This is not only a matter of comfort, but also of safety. Sitting for several hours in a hot tin can in 30 degrees heat is a difficult test even for a healthy person. And for people with poor health, children, the elderly, asthmatics or those who have had coronavirus, it can be dangerous. The law should oblige airlines to monitor the health and regular operation of climate systems on board. For those who do not, there should be penalties.

Finally, we recall again: in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, keeping hundreds of people indoors without ventilation is like death. One sick person is enough for all the others to become infected.