Alaska Flight #536 - Rapid De-Pressurization and Panic at 30K Feet
27 12 2005
Boy, what a day. In what started as a typical flight home from a typical holiday weekend, changed drastically twenty minutes after take off. My fiancée and I were returning from a few days in Seattle when the unthinkable happened to us - our Alaska MD-80 Airplane tore a hole in it’s fuselage at 30K feet.
First of all, I’m just glad I’m here to write this post, to tell the tale of this horrifying incident - but the stupid circumstances by which it happened, are upsetting.
Nothing can describe the helpless feeling you go through during a time like this, when you are absent any control, you cannot breathe, and everyone around is stunned into fear. It all started with a loud bang - the cabin air began to swirl and the engine sound became deafening. As a GA-VFR pilot, I knew something was terribly wrong. As the smell of acrid AV-gas/JP4 and burning plastic filled the cabin, it created more fear in the eyes of the holiday passengers around me. We were all gripped in silence, surrounded by the white noise from the engines that eerily engulfed the plane into a surreal atmosphere. And as the oxygen masks deployed from the ceiling in a familiar, video-esque manner, we all grasped them in fear - trying to figure out how to breathe through the flimsy pieces of plastic. Parents were the most confused – as the masks were too large for their babies’ faces and were not easy to put on in such a panicked situation. The next few minutes passed like seconds – the plane started diving down to a lower level … and fast.
The first moment of some release was the pilot’s voice over the speaker. It had been more than 20 minutes since he last spoke, when he told us we had reached altitude. Now, he told us that we had leveled off at 10K feet and we were heading back to Sea-Tac airport. Again, since I am a pilot – I had many ideas on how and why this happened. This morning I found out that one of my assumptions was correct – there was a hole in the plane that caused the decompression. A hole that could have cost many lives, including my own. The enraging fact is that a non-union baggage handler ran into the side of the plane moments prior to take-off … and that it was never reported.
Thank god for the help of an amazing cabin crew and pilot. Without them, who knows what could have happened.
The worst part for me was the fact that my Fiancee and I were 4 rows apart and she was closer to the rear of the plane where the loud ‘bang’ and Engine noise was coming from; I couldn’t stop thinking of how she felt, and how terrified she must be all alone back there. But as you know Alaska Airlines often ‘oversells’ flights as usual, in an overbooked flight they couldn’t accomodate us.
Ugh…we’ll here are the photos of the incident as I could take them on my Treo 650, sorry about the resolution 
Update: Some people have been looking “into” my Civil Aviation Information (Captain X), unfortunately it’s not listed under ‘Jeremy Hermanns’ - my nickname is ‘Jeremy’; but my legal name ‘Robert Jeremiah Hermanns’. For the record: Date of Issue of my FAA Private Pilot Certificate is April 26, 1999. Took my flight test at Van Nuys Airport in a Katana DA-20, and my written at John Wayne in Orange County. Also, I’m a previous AOPA member and Piper Cherokee 140 Owner.
P.S.: I am not editing any comments…the server is being overloaded and not resolving while I’m trying approve them all with this much traffic.
We are very interested in your ordeal and would like to talk to you. Please call me at (310) 584-2025.
Thanks
Hi Jeremy…
My name is Lisl Wright and my boyfriend and I were also on Flight 536. I’m so glad to have found your site. I travel Alaska quite frequently and have become very disappointed with the company in general….extremely delayed flights, if not canceled all together. However, what happened yesterday and learning of the events that caused this incident, my stomach is in complete knots and I’m not too keen on flying in the near future. I hope you and your finace are recovering from the whole ordeal and that we can all find a better airline to fly other than Alaska…one that employs professional bagger handlers!
Sincerely,
Lisl Wright
Wow…so other than that, what did you think about the play, Mrs. Lincoln??
I’m glad you’re still here to (eventually) laugh about it…. ;o)
[...] Jeremy Hermanns was on the Alaska Air flight that had a gash in its side and lost pressure. He gook Treo 650 photos of the scene and, thank God, lived to blog about it. Compare his account with the news account. [via Lost Remote] [...]
Jeremy, they say that statistically, flying is still one of the safest things you can do. Thanks for contributing such an important, authentic, human element to this equation.
VERY glad you guys are OK.
First, I’m glad you are blogging and that you survived this potential deadly incident. Secondly, who give a $hit if the guy who hit the plane was non-union or not? As you must know, union baggage handlers and mechanics have also screwed up and have been blamed for major airline accidents.
Glad you made it through and are safe and sound.
This detailed account of a potential disaster emphasizes that everyone on board a plane should definitely pay attention to the pre-flight instructions the attendants give before taking off should an emergency occur.
Wow, amazing story man. I’m glad you made it out okay.
I recommend QSet to adjust the picture quality on your Treo.
And I agree that the union status of the handler is irrelevant.
You come up with some very imaginative terms to describe the smell and what was happening. Can you explain to me, since when did jet liners start using AV gas? What was burning? YOu say and I quote “I knew something was terribly wrong. As the smell of acrid AV-gas and burning plastic filled the cabin”. Since the hole was far forward of the both the wings in which the fuel is stored and the engines for that matter, where did the smell of AV gas come from? No report of anything burnt was ever made, please explain the burning smell?
Do me one favore. I know you were involved in a terrible event, but don’t make more out of it than it was. Lieing about the smell of gas and burning anything in your blog only serves your own agenda.
SEATTLE (AP)–An Alaska Airlines (ALK) plane is grounded at Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport for an investigation of an emergency landing and cargo
loading accident that is being blamed on a baggage handler.
The National Transportation Safety Board said a baggage handler failed to
report that equipment struck the plane. A crease in the aluminum opened up as
the jet climbed to 26,000 feet.
The baggage handler was employed by Menzies Aviation, a company that Alaska
Airlines hired to provide ramp services at Sea-Tac after it laid off nearly
500 workers in May to cut costs.
Flight 536 lost cabin pressure Monday about 20 minutes after taking off from
Sea-Tac. Passengers heard a loud noise and felt their ears pop as oxygen masks
dropped from the ceiling.
The plane returned to the airport and landed safely with a foot-long hole in
the fuselage. None of the 140 passengers or five crew members were hurt.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is the nation’s ninth-largest carrier, serving
mostly West Coast cities.
Man…John sure likes to bust balls. I smell his burning!
A story that we all don’t ever want to be a participant in. Glad you are around to see your wedding day. Very gripping account of the flight.
Maybe if you turned your cell phone off like you are supposed to, none of this would have happened. Idiot.
I feel for you, knowing your fiancee was 4 rows away. How terrible if you thought your last minutes were upon you. You used up a boat-load of kharma ;-).
John-the-skeptic, a hole in the fuselage allows the odor of the combusting aviation fuel in the jet engine (whatever the grade of fuel) to enter the airplane. Therefore, passengers would smell something ‘burning.’
Wow. Quite astute of you to notice something was wrong after a loud bang and cabin depressurization. Good thing you had that pilot training.
The first thing I noticed while reading your account (besides the obvious that you don’t know the difference between Jet-A and AVGas — stay away from my plane, bucko.) is that you are a big cry-baby trying to make a big deal out of an emergency decent and precautionary landing. I would expect that from the average Joe citizen who is scared of “those little airplanes”. But not from someone who claims to be a pilot.
So, what rating do you have? Student pilot?
Hermanns! Good to see you are still alive…and still a nerd! Where’s my trail mix bars!?! Holla at’cha boy!
So let me get this straight? You put on an oxygen mask? And then, umm, you made an emergency descent and landed? AND you lived to “blog” about it! Alright!
Yawn…
The stuff of nightmares
Oh my lord. It’d bad enough reading about an airplane accident — thankfully, one that didn’t end in tragedy — in the steady, calm voice of newspaper reporting. But then comes the report of the incident from passenger Jeremy Hermanns.
What an incredible story!!! Now, THAT IS A BLOG! I am happy to hear of the happy ending, unfortunately, the mental trauma is something different. Hope your fiance is dealing well, excellent writeup!
Hermanns, I’m still marveling at the fact that your 15 minutes might be that pic with the oxygen mask on! Also, YOU KNOW it’s JP4 on a jet, not AV-GAS.
As for you John, you may want to note that the engines in an MD-80 are rear mounted, which means that once the air has fully decompressed, the cabin will get exposed to all the fancy smells coming from the fuel and hydraulic pumps and lines sitting down there, fed by 250 kts. of wind gust.
Incidents like this seem minor to you because that’s how MSM have reported them for years. Welcome to new media vs. old media. New media = you’ve got all the power and emotion coming from someone who was there and feared for their life. Old media = people you think like you. When you’ve been present for an in-flight emergency, you can tell us all how “minor” of a deal it is. Until then, go suck it.
“John” is obviously an Alaska Airlines rep disguising as a concerned member of the public at large.
Nice try, PR flack/hack.
So let me get this right. During a mid air emergency you decided to turn on your cell phone and snap pictures that you could sell to the media if you survived? Don’t you think that by doing this you could have caused further problems for everyone around you? Did you also ignore the no smoking light and spark up a cigar?
Vince, Treos have an airplane safe mode, so you can safely turn them on during flights.
But way to go on the nitpicking! You must feel like THE MAN now!
By the way, could one of the geniuses on the comment board kindly point out all of the potential “problems” that an in-flight cell phone can wreak on a plane? Seems odd considering the FAA was proposing to lift the ban on them last year. I bet the only problem it really causes is to the Airphone monopolies. Phone’s seemed to work fine on the 9/11 flights, unless you believe that’s what brought them down.
Who was the guy sitting in front of you who just continued reading the in-flight magazine though the whole thing?
Holy smokes there are some uptight, hyper-critical people who feel the need to post negative, sarcastic comments here. I’m amazed by the self-aggrandizing behavior displayed above.
Gary: The ‘non-union’ comment was supposed to be descriptive, not pro-union commentary. I took from it that the ramp personnel the work was outsourced to weren’t as well trained. Union situations have pros and cons, and nothing said a union worker couldn’t have done the same thing - don’t take it personally…
John: I certainly hope you don’t talk like that to people you know, if you actually do talk to real people. If you’re going to start criticizing what someone posts, learn how to type/spell/write first - I noticed _ten_ spelling and grammar errors in your thirteen-line post. Who cares what kind of gas commercial jets use? I would guess the ‘AV’ meant ‘aviation’ – where does it say “I saw them put AV gas in the plane”? He was describing a smell, the layperson won’t know the difference in airplane fuel types. Also, are you saying there can’t be a smell of burning plastic without actually having smoke and fire? Feel free to come smell one of my lemon-scented farts and start looking around for lemons…
Steve: I’m guessing you were joking, and if you were, that was pretty funny. If you weren’t joking, you might consider some therapy on how to not be so pissy…
Your Momma: Nice use of sarcasm, but again, who cares what fuel acronym was used? Obviously it didn’t smell like the gas that goes in a car or the differentiation wouldn’t have been made. He also didn’t say “I put AV gas in the plane” so I think _your_ plane is as safe as it can be with you around. As the incident could have easily ended much worse, I wouldn’t call him a cry-baby. It’s really much easier to breathe in a pressurized cabin, and it’s much easier to fly without a foot-long hole in the fuselage, so I think the landing could be considered ‘necessary’, not ‘precautionary’…
I flew my family on an Alaska MD-80 for Christmas too. I chose Alaska based largely on price, which is what almost everyone does. If you did too, how can you be “enraged” about a cost-saving policy (such as hiring non-union workers)? Rather than blame a cost-saving policy which the market has demanded, I think the worker who was remiss in reporting the potential damage to the plane (if that’s what really happened) should be blacklisted from ever working in the industry again.
haha. don’t be such a pussy.
i bet you’re gonna try to sue aren’t you you little whiner?
I guess the safemode enables the night vision green hue in the pictures or maybe it’s the Hilton effect?
Thanks for blogging about your experience. I’m quite surprised and embarassed about the above comments that chastised you for writing about this horrifying event. Best of luck on the rest of your honeymoon, and God bless you and your new wife in the coming year.
Maybe that smell wasn’t fuel, it was your 15 minutes burning faster than your treo could take pictures.
Just curious, did you stand up and scream “Let’s Roll”?
Jeremy,
I’ve been trying to locate you all morning re: television interview. Can you contact me when you have a moment? (You should be able to see my contact info).
Glad you and your fiancee (and all other passengers) made it to ground safely.
Jeremy- I saw you on the news yesterday. Emily and I were making dinner and all of a sudden your mug is on my tv. Solid interview, good work!
–Jody
As others have said, it’s pretty much impossible for you to have smelled burning Avgas (100LL, piston aircraft gasoline). You probably smelled jet exhaust, if anything.
With a gash in the fuselage, the higher pressure air inside would be rushing out to meet the lower pressure air. No jet engine fumes (”burning JP4″) could come in against that rushing air. Even once the pressures had somewhat equalized, there is still that whole Bernoulli thing to deal with. The air on the outside is going much faster than that inside the airplane, thus causing it to be at a lower pressure. Air is going to continue to try to exit the aircraft through that hole. Even then, assuming all pressures were equalized, you’d have to have a pretty hard eddy current in order for the jet engine exhaust, which is travelling at a very high speed out the back of the engine located behind the hole in the airplane, to swirl back around and enter the plane.
Regarding the baggage handler, non-union does not mean non-professional or non-qualified. The guy screwed up and should be taken to task for that. He probably will be fired. If he were a union employee, the union brass would fight for the employee and do everything it could to make sure that careless baggage handler didn’t get fired.
for the record, the smell of burning plastic was most likely from the emergency oxygen masks…when the mask is pulled, it creates a chemical reaction in the unit that creates oxygen…heating up the unit to upwards of 500 degrees.
First off, I found this site through the CNN report. Nice to hear the actual voice of a blogger. Glad you’re okay. For what it’s worth, my girlfriend and gay neighbor thinks “Jeremy is cute…”
As for those judgemental techno-idiots Steve Hays and Vince, why don’t you read up on the Treo 650 before making your inflammatory ignorant comments? The Treo 650 is a convergent device which integrates a Palm PDA with a cellphone (and camera). You can turn off the cellphone and continue using the PDA and camera. I work in a hospital where cellphones are not allowed yet I’m able to use the PDA freely. You could have easily found this out on many websites that talk about the Treo, including Amazon.com.
All electronic devices need to be turned off during takeoff and landing. But I know of no rules that prevent you from using a camera or PDA during the flight. In fact, I’ve seen many people playing games, plannning their schedules, etc midflight — as well as use their laptops.
So do us a favor and educate yourselves before posting something stupid.
Jeeeesus Jeremy. Let you out of LA for one minute…
Seriously, though — glad you’re both okay.
Sinto pelo o que aconteceu…..mas preferia que tivesse morrido.
Uouuuuu God glass you!!!!!! Happy New Year.
Guilherme from Brazil
Jeremy; thanks for sharing a great account of the incident… I hope I never experience anything like it!
to the post-trolls… seriously; go get a day job. you have way too much free time on your hands! is it really worth it to come here and flex your e-peen on the accuracy of the smell, the dangers of in-flight cameraphone usage, and (ironically) fame mongering.
Jeremy, I’ve realised maybe you didn’t mean anything by mentioning that the worker was non-union (though that is the way it reads), so I’d delete my above comment if I could.
Someone without a stick: Buddy, knowing that jets take jet-a and piston engines used av-gas is pretty fundamental to being a pilot. Something like a trucker knowing that his truck takes diesel fuel. It’s perfectly legitimate who call someone’s ignorance who purports to describe a personal experience as an expert.
On the union matter: It’s reasonable to assume that union workers would have higher seniority on average (due to higher wages and incumbent worker influence) and therefore be more experienced and less likely to mistakes, especially for a job like baggage handling which would not otherwise require much training. Moreover, the union protections against being fired would make it more likely that this mishap would have been reported to a supervisor rather than keeping quiet and hoping for the best. Are you aware of another in-flight decompression caused by a baggage handler mistake? I didn’t think so.
[...] Blogger Jeremy Hermanns was on board Alaska Airlines Flight No. 536 when it lost cabin pressure at 30,000 feet. Thanks to well-trained pilots, prepared cabin staff and methodical mechanics, the plane quickly descended to 10,000 feet and returned to Seattle’s SeaTac to make a safe landing. Hermanns took in-flight photos and quickly posted them. [...]
Pois é, vcs americanos são meio loucos mesmo, fica ai a lição, porra será que nunca vão aprender que não são os melhores do mundo. Todo dia alguem faz uma loucura e dessa vez quase morre um monte e c vcs caissem a culpa ia ser do Bin Laden, porra se cuida cara!
Foda, ainda bem que nao aconteceu nada demais com voces! felicidades e otimos voos daqui pra frente!
Awesome report!
É por isso que digo Legalize já!!!!
Hemp! Hemp!
hahahahhahahahah!!!!!
Maybe if you werent such a fucking pussy you wouldnt crap your pants that easyer…punk…
Legaliza tb pode funciona…
Ae troxa, se fodeu!!!
ahahah
Are you sure this wasn’t a stunt by your fiancee to put off the wedding?
Parents were the most confused – as the masks were too large for their babies’ faces and were not easy to put on in such a panicked situation.
That’s why they tell you to put your own mask on first, then worry about the kid’s. If you pass out trying to put the mask on him then both of you asphyxiate.
Glad you’re OK.
OBTW, if you ever update this page, it’s “URL”, not “URI”.
Olá ta sou brasileira sei que não vai entender o que eu escrevo…..mas que bom que deu tudo certo!!!!I am happy for you to be well!
Happy new year, that god illuminates its way and of its fiancé!
Kiss…..Juliana I’from Brazil
E aí cara, nossa, q história loka hein meu, ahuahauha, se fosse eu tava piradão até agora, uhuhu, pois é, é cada coisa q nos acontece né, pqp… Hhauahuahauah, se fu…
The smell you encountered was probably the Oxegen genarators firing above your head when you pulled the mask down.
As for the phone issue. They have caused problems with the cargo fire detetectors in the past, causing them to indicate smoke/fire in the pits on some aircraft. This problem has somewhat been solved, but no one is 100% sure. There is still some concern that they can cause problems with older navigation systems.
BTW, FWIW, etc., the greenish tone is a product of the flourescent lights used in the aircraft. Your brain auto-filters the green, so you “see” white for things your brain knows are white, etc. Cameras catch the putrescent green in all its glory.
If Opie & Anthony (XM Satellite Radio ch. 202) were on this flight, this would have never happened.
GRAÇAS A DEUS NINGUEM SE FERIUUUU!!!!
DESEJO A TODOS OS PASSAGEIROS QUE ESQUEÇAM ESSA MAL LEMBRANÇA, POR CAUSA DE UM FUNCIONÁRIO INRESPONSAVEL!!!
ABRAÇOS
JOEL NUNES
BRASIL
Jeremy
Did you edit some of the comments here on your board? Some of the comments seam to have gotten smaller in size and content? Hmm… Makes me wonder, do you not like all of the truth to come out?
Hi Jeremy, can you tell me what kind of a pilot you are licensed for? Interesting story.
So when you exited the plane, did they say “Thank you for flying Alaska”?
Mr. Hermanns…..you aren’t a pilot are you? You are not in the FAA Airman Database…..You removed my first post when I brought this to your attention. Why not tell the world you took a fight lesson a while ago….You like Top Gun and you fly MS Flight Sim in your underwear…
I guess the truth hurts! I dare you to leave this message. I’ll be back!
CAPT X
Your finacee looks safe in this picture on the plane:
http://bob.jamestownri.com/_photos/VietnamThird%20021.sized.jpg
You pussy!
Leave up all of the post! Every one has a right to read and write about what they think of your experiance!
I think Bin Laden is the guilty!!!
Inflight emergencies , no matter how small , are no picnic for those who are actually involved. People who are seated comfortably at home watching everything unfold on CNN have the luxury of pointing out trivial it all was in the end. Shame on you ! Until something “trivial” happens to you personally, you have no right to judge a passenger”s reaction to it. I’m a flight attendant and have had more than one emergency myself. No fun.
The “burning plastic” smell was indeed the smell of the chemical generators from the oxygen masks. Some describe it more as a scorched cloth smell.
As for the “non-union” comment, he has a point. A company person would have at least reported it right away. His family members ,friends and colleges and even he would be traveling on this plane at some point. Im not saying that outside vendors do a bad job. Im saying that a person who has a personal stake in the company may be a bit more careful and thorough.
Jeremy,
Did it become COLD after the air leaked out of the plane?
Usually the outside temperature is like minus 50 degrees or so at cruising altitude.
Hopefully that baggage handler is in a holding cell facing (crew plus passengers) counts of attempted murder (murder by omission/failure to act).
Orion: URI is also correct, but is more generic. URL=Uniform Resource Locator; URI=Uniform Resource Identifier
Ralph: This is not a public forum it is Jeremy’s personal web page, so everyone does not have a “right” to comment here. If you want to make disparaging remarks get your own blog.
I fail to see any positive affect from the trash talkers comments on this post. You need to “get a life” people, fast.
I guess I’m kind of disgusted but not terribly surprised at some of the vicious comments on this board. Have you people tried, and I’m quite serious about this, getting some professional help? And thanks so much for your valiant efforts to make society suck just that little bit more.
[...] Cool Cell Phone Pix of the Panic [...]
Glad things turned out well. I came to the blog to read the account. Instead, what truly amazes me are those who nitpicked their way through the post, as well as those who took the time to write denigrating comments with no redeeming value. Despite the wonders and genuine safety of modern air travel, when things go wrong, they can go bad very quickly. Its not cowardly to be deeply concerned given the circumstances as described. As I read, I thought of Alaska Airlines 261, a few years ago. I believe it was also an MD-80, that had a jack screw failure in the tail assembly. That didn’t end so well. I commend you on providing the real time documentation, and to be quite frank, I’m not all that concerned about any detail you may have missed. I hope that you and your young lady have a long and prosperous life together.
E voce não tirou fotos do buraco porque?
Don’t you make photos of acident in airplane?
Gostei do comentário lé em cima.. qual deles.. adivinhe!!!!
While this maybe a private domain, please have the balls to post all comments. Not edit it to serve your own purpose as the public will read this site based on your comments to the media.
The truth is not always pleasant, but every one has a right to prove or disprove his comments. i.e. he’s not a licenced pilot, it’s jet-A not av gas, etc.
The burning odor: This is the result of the oxygen generators operating. They get very hot and tend to burn any dust/grease/debris nearby. The fuel vents on MD-80s are on the wingtips, so it’s unlikely that’s what you smelled.
The “non union” baggage handler: What nobody has addressed here is that a union baggage handler is protected by contractual rights which mean he could not be summarily fired, and would thus be more likely to report this type of problem. Employees with union protection aren’t perfect, but are in a position where they don’t have to fear reporting this type of situation or others (such as the Valuejet/everglades crash) where they’ve been ordered to do something illegal and/or dangerous.
Cell Phones: A cell phone isn’t going to cause the aircraft to split-s into the ground, but it can interfere with various instrument or comparator functions that can result in the aircraft requiring higher approach minimums than normal - if a cell phone or other device did cause that problem and visibility at SEA was less than .5 miles, you probably wouldn’t enjoy having to fly to Yakima or Moses Lake because SEA was below minimums.
The negative comments are remarkable. Jeremy - Sorry this happened; and then you get molested in the comments section of your own blog..that’s just weak.
Joel
Ola Jeremy, Sou de São Paulo, Brasil, e sua História ja chegou nesses cantos aqui também, só tenho a dizer que foi muita sorte a sua hein.
Jeremy -
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your story might help someone else remain calm when they go through something similar.
I apologize for all the rude posts on this board. Some people just don’t know how to behave in public. Some people are hyper-critical (and therefore miss the point entirely), and others are just highly self-centered. Don’t let the turkeys get you down.
God Bless!
While I’m glad everything turned out alright, the non-union status of the handler is not only irrelevant, it’s what you asked for. Because I’m sure that when you purchased the tickets, you didn’t seek the most expensive, unionized carrier; you simply searched for the cheapest ticket. Moreover, it’s not like union employees don’t have mishaps and fail to report them, either.
Everyone complains about airline service — but there isn’t a single human being on the face of this earth that ever called a travel agent and asked for the most expensive ticket money can buy. You wanna get a meal on your next flight? Then don’t try to chisel that last $2.27 of the price of the ticket every time you fly.
Personally, I hope the world economic dynamic gives “cheap” a rest for awhile and moves toward “quality”. Because I’m tired of buying dirt cheap everything and having to throw it away and replace it 12 months later. I will happily pay more for something that performs and endures.
Geremias, você deveria morrer naquele dia, mas nao morreu, então tenha cuidado. o anjo da morte sempre volta.
Marcos Laeber From Sri Lanka.
I think rather than indulging peoples sympathy you should be crediting the pilots and flight crews skill and training during the emergency. It’s because of them that you’re alive to post this blog today. All you did was sit there shit yourself and snap a couple pictures. Obviously YOU ARE NOT A PILOT otherwise you would know that pilots constantly train for emergencies no matter the severity. ATP (airline transport pilots) pilots have sim training sessions every 6 months, where they practice an emergency such as this.
Someone earlier asked how it is that a cell phone can bring down an aircraft. Well genius , it can’t. HOWEVER, if everyone had and was using their cell phones, pda , wireless devices and anything and everything else during an instrument landing, there could be a problem. Do you want to find out? Well I dont. The reason we have to tell you to turn off that cd player before we take off isn’t because it is dangerous . It’s because EVERYONE has an electronic device of some sort. And instead of taking time to see which ones emit a signal, the rule is they all go off. Plain and simple.
So you can’t use your cell phone for a few hours…BIG DEAL ! If they were actually allowed it would create more problems than it solves.
By the way , the cell phone companies were looking for ways to make NEW cellphone and satellite signals safe for airplane use not necessarily the old ones. Boon for the cell phone companies , not for you.
I’m so glad that you, your fiancee, and everyone else on the plane is all right. Ignore the assholes who are coming out to play in your comment section. Some people are just petty and mean and aren’t worth a second thought.
SEU FILHA DE UMA PUTA!!!!!
VAI TOMA NO SEU CÚ!!!
SUA MÃE TÁ NA ZONA
FUCK OFF!
Let’s not be so quick to jump on the baggage handler. The airline did the same thing the customers did, bought the cheapest service availible. You get what you pay for!! Blame the management, not the employee! Firing the employee solves nothing, they just hire another person FROM THE SAME LABOR POOL. Who do you think applys for these jobs, people, phd’s? Expect a lot more crashes.
Oh, by the way, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “PERSONAL” WEBLOG. “Personal” is for diaries.
Jeremy,
Glad you’re safe and sound and great post on what it’s like to go through such a thing. Glad to have you back on solid ground again.
I dunno… the oxygen mask looks like it was photoshopped into a self pic on the plane
Ficou famoso.. heimm!!!! todo mundo já leu sua notícia aqui no brazil !!!!!!
boa sorte daqui para frente…
beijos
Jeremy,
You should have put your collar down before taking the picture, that look hasn’t been cool for 20 years.
O&A Rocks - XMRADIO CH. 202
Jeremy,
I’ve been in an “inflight incident” before. It’s impossible to communicate to others who haven’t experienced it. To me, it’s the lack of control or awareness in the situation that was the worst.
Wan’t that Alaska crash a few years back (the famous ‘jack-screw’ failure) blamed on cost cutting on maintainance? Sound like a pattern with them.
Unfortunately there is no surprise on some of the comments. Even the trash of humanity can find the internet these days.
Thanks for the post and glad to hear you all made it through without a scratch.
Thanks for the article and pics. It is truly amazing to see what really happens as opposed to what the mass media shows or portrays.
The Lockerbie 747 crash reconstruction photos I have seen showed a small blast hole that was no more than a foot or so wide and located on the underside of the plane. This hole in the front of the plane became a long torn off strip wrapping around the plane and widening to 10 or more feet. (Pics available somewhere on the web.) That is what happens at full 600+ knots and 30,000+ feet altitude.
Needless to say, in that case the structural integrity of the 747 failed when the strip around the plane was torn off, and it broke up.
You are very lucky!
PS, I have been on many airline flights on jets (747 and smaller) on which I have smelled jet fuel and/or jet exhaust when the plane was taking off, in-flight, on the ground, or especially when the gear doors were opened for landing.
Many years ago, I was on a flight which lost a cargo door, upstream from the engines.
The jet exhaust smell was overwhelming.
The individual “fisking” this assertion above is talking through his . . . er . . . hat.
UNBELIEVABLE JEREMY!
By the way… here’s the instruction manual that Alaska Airlines uses.
http://www.the-rocketman.com/images/scrap-book/OXAGEN-MASK-NORTHWEST.jpg
I totally did CAPT X’s daughter with an airplane steering wheel last night.
Que loucura … mas graças a Deus deu tudo certo.
Um abraço.
Thiago Anjos
BRASIL
The blond stewardess in the picture looks hot - your death-defying oxygen mask pictures are OK, but do you have any more pics of her?
Did any of the little kids need mouth-to-mouth?
VC NÃO TIROU FOTOS DO BURACO?
QUIS FOTOS RUIM MEU……………………
Com certeza os momentos que passou serão guardados para sempre na memória, e que isso sirva de lição para o Brasil e para o Mundo também.
Um abraço de um brasileiro !!
first, could you fags please write in english? and B, why couldn’t people just hold their breath instead of using those lame masks.
Citizen Journalism at its Best
The situation made him a victim; technology made him a reporter.
fui eu q furei pq?? soh pq eu so fodaaaaaaa hahah meti meu bagulho no ferrro e furo! massa neh? meu treis oitaumm , meu kilometrico
It’s so amazing even in light of such a dangerous incident the anti-union right wingers are trying to spin it. Ah Brian .. you loser,,, the union mechanic most likely wouldn’t have done it, and would have likely reported it if he did,, because he would have known he had the union behind him. As for Alaska Air in general, they have gone from being one of the best airlines to one of the worst in the last few years.
On a personal note I will be off on yet another international flight a day from now and I’m sure I’ll be watching that safety demo a bit closer this time..
Thanks for the great reporting Jeremy!
lol brow ki cara anta fazer um furo no aviao HUUDEUH ele devei dar na seca e meteu a pica no aviao HUDEUED
Excellent post. It’s unusual that we get such a detailed account with pictures.
It’s also good that your story shows that the system functioned as it should. The masks dropped, the pilot dove, and you were breathing again at 10K.
This PP-ASEL thinks you’ve done a fine job here and to ignore the trolls.
Thanks for the post Jeremy, what a terrifying experience. I’m glad that nobody was hurt. That baggage handler should be put on trial for attempted murder of all the passengers of flight 536.
Jeremy: I am just glad that you, your fiancee, and the other 140 or souls onboard that flight are okay.
As for people posting, I think basic decency and fairness are called for in making comments anonymously, as they do in face-to-face contact. So what if he makes a mistake between AV gas or jp4 or burning plastic or used his cell phone or treo or whatever. That is not the point. The point is this guy had a really bad experience, lived to write about it, and now we can all learn from that experience. Or not. The choice is up to each person individually. But disparaging Jeremey in a degrading manner is never gonna teach anybody anything.
Am not sure what to make of the MSM comments. I can’t believe that the media is trying to cover up scary in-flight incidents. Read USA Today, which gets more out of plane tragedies than anybody around. And since the cable nets covered it, where exactly is the MSM-airline industry cabal?
I am very distressed about the baggage handler, as we should all be. Either he was not aware what happened, acted like it didn’t matter or didn’t know it was important, or some variation of all of the above. However you look at it, it’s really bad news. He’s either ignorant, a coward or woefully undertrained to be doing such a job around airplanes.
So let’s all calm down, especially you pilots out there, and learn something from this or not. Otherwise, leave it alone, go out and talk a walk or a nap or maybe see your doctor about upping your dosage of whatever you are on.
All the best to Jeremy et al. Happy New Year. John
As a frequent flyer, not committed to any particular airline, I found your account of the incident fascinating. I am wondering if the NTSB has contacted you for a report.
But, more fascinating is that a few posting-rats temporarily scurried over from Yahoo! to waste a little more of their employer’s time (presumably they’re employed) to nit-pick your story. I must admit, I scanned most of the posts because of their infantile comments. I am most amazed that the string has yet to lapse into the familiar Bush Sucks!/Bush Rules! tirade (or, is that there in the Portuguese and I’m just not reading it?).
Great work!
I’ve never had any problems with air travel, however, without really knowing the full details, my brother-in-law (who flew bombers for the US Navy) flew out of O’Hare around 1989, and he witnessed pressurized fluid streaming out from a wing as they taxied to the runway. He said he immediately ran to the cockpit (pre-9/11) and informed them. He was never told what the liquid was, but they did turn around and he was thanked profusely.
Frumps… don’t fret about the comments from Brazil in Portugese.. unlike yours they are complimentary and compassionate.
[...] Wanted to thank everyone for the vibrant discussion going on about my account of Flight #536’s depressurization/landing. I’ll try to keep the comments moderated as much as possible, to remove the ugly/dirty/off-topic ones. But bear with me–we’re getting bombarded right now. [...]
Fumes — the air in the airplane comes from the engines; part of what they suck in is diverted to the cabin for air conditioning. Any fumes emitted from forward of the engines will be sucked in and spread through the cabin. The odor of the oxygen generators adds to that.
In addition, low pressure itself can create smells. They aren’t real, just the chemosensors in the nose responding to the change in pressure, but they can be quite sharp and unpleasant even so. The most common report is something similar to burning sulfur (”matches”).
The “strange” language in the comments is mostly Portuguese. If you can’t read it, how does it feel to know you’re dumber than a ten-year-old Rio street kid?
Regards,
Ric
Any pics of your fiancee?
Jay, you obviously don’t know the difference between JP4 and AV-GAS, so please just keep your opinions to yourself.
As for why it matters regarding Avgas/Jet Fuel, etc, is that it leaves doubts as to his credibility. He says that he’s a licensed private pilot, and then he makes an error on a subject that literally every pilot would know, it makes you doubt his story. Also, assuming those posts are true, if he is not a licensed airman, it leaves more doubt to his story. Call it grandstanding, exaggeration, embellishment, or just plain lying to get on TV.
Com certeza Immanuel Kant tem uma boa resposta para este evento.
Surely Immanuel Kant has a good answer for this occurrence.
I’m amazed at some of the comments. A guy practically live blogs a news event complete with pictures and all some people can do is criticize, nitpick useless issues that they have no knowledge of and call him a baby? (I’d love to see these people’s reactions had THEIR plane sprung a hole. I’m sure they would’ve laughed in the face of death.)
Why the bitterness? Why the vitriol?
This is a glimpse into the future where those who go through newsworthy events have the power to give their perspective WITHOUT going through the MSM filter. If you think that’s boring or stupid or whiny…WTF? He’s a blogger…with a camera…who goes through a scary air emergency…you expect him NOT to blog it?
Realmente é uma pena que vocês não tenham morrido. Também é uma pena que você não entenda o que metade destes posts quer dizer… Suas fotos estão muito ruins… cara você é muito burro! O pior de tudo é esse climinha que você explica as coisas… você tem problemas sexuais só, ou é pior que isso?!?!
I flew them for over a year and spent maybe $10-12K with them. They recently sent me some Harry & David nuts to try and woo me back. I hated the MD-80, but us Golds usually flew it in 1st class so it wasn’t so bad. They were nice folks, printed Bible verses on little placecards on your meal tray.
If they are sending you nastygrams from their own IP that’s not a very Christian thing to do, now is it.
Seriously, management needs to retire that MD-80 airframe before someone gets seriously hurt–it’s a piece of CRAP. Look how well Southwest has done by sticking with the 737.
Get some balls Alaska, maybe I’ll come back.
I know one thing: if I had been aboard that flight, I would have added considerably to the smells in the cabin. And to the general atmosphere, later, when I had to burn my underwear!
On Air Canada long ago, probably the late 60s, they blew a door seal, which produced an actual cloud in the aisle but no oxygen mask drop, and (my concern) cancelled breakfast service. They dove to a breatheable altitude and flew back to the airport. They dealt with the passenger problem by not letting anybody off the plane while they put in a new door seal, and we went back on our way. Things were more casual back then.
That was in the days of spit and CAB approved duct tape.
I’m amazed at some of the dumb ass comments in this thread- I’d bet if you were on a plane, there was a loud bang, all the masks popped out of the ceiling and the pilot started jamming for 10,000 feet most of you would need an underware change.
I just wanted to say thanks for posting these interesting photos and for telling us about your experience. I cannot believe the amount of scumbags who have criticized you on your own web page.
“I’m amazed at some of the dumb ass comments in this thread- I’d bet if you were on a plane, there was a loud bang, all the masks popped out of the ceiling and the pilot started jamming for 10,000 feet most of you would need an underware change.”
Maybe, but at least I’d know enough to switch my camera’s white balance off of “auto”. Just leaving some doubts as to his credibility as a photographer.
Your post is very creditable, including the smells. It’s entirely possible that you smelled jet fuel, airflow very close to the skin of the airplane can travel in any direction. It’s also possible that a fuel line was damaged.
Do we know that this baggage cart incident really happened? The pilots surely would not have departed had they been aware of such an event without having maintenace check the airframe for damage. It’s hard to picture an object hitting an airliner and nobody remarking on it at the time.
I know there is a lot of bad feeling towards these ramp sub-contractors in the aviation world. The rumors are that these sub-contractors hire people off the street at very low hourly wages, provide them minimal training, and turn them lose on the ramp. Certainly one of these very low wage rampers is the least powerful person involved in the flight, and therefore might be a good scapegoat for speculation.
The prior commenter who mentioned the postive safey value of transportation unions was correct.