Seventy passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Manchester had their oxygen masks drop down when the 737 jet experienced rapid decompression yesterday, officials said. BThe masks did drop,B Southwest spokesman Christine Turneabe-Connelly said. Within a few minutes, the plane dropped from 37,000 feet to about 10,000 feet, where oxygen doesnBt need to be provided to passengers in the cabin, she said. No one was injured. The problem developed over Lake Erie near Buffalo, N.Y., she said. The plane maintained the lower altitude and landed safely at Manchester Airport at 12:32 p.m. It was scheduled to land at 11:50 a.m. Turneabe-Connelly didnBt know what caused the problem. The passengers and five crew members were on board Southwest Flight 970 that got off the ground at ChicagoBs Midway Airport at 9:31 a.m., more than a half-hour late, she said. When the masks drop, Bit gets a little disconcerting for passengers,B Manchester Airport Director Kevin Dillon said. BIt was pretty scary,B said a Seacoast resident who was aboard the flight but asked not to be identified. BI just figured that was it; we were going to crash.B The man said he heard a pop and smelled something burning. BI heard somebody saying there was a computer malfunction,B he said. He praised the flight crew. BThe flight crew was amazing. They handled it pretty well,B he said. The troubled plane was taken out of service. It was destined for Nashville. Those passengers were delayed about two hours until another plane was flown to Manchester. A maintenance crew from Baltimore headed to Manchester to examine the plane before it would be flown to Dallas for further study, she said.

http://www2.theunionleader.com/articles/articles_show.html?article=10338

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 10, 2000

Answers

10. November 2000

Air Travel: Low air pressure may cause blod clots

Norwegian doctors have carried out tests which show that it is the low air pressure in the cabin during long air trips, which may cause some passengers to suffer from blod clots or coronary trombosis.

Tests carried out in simulated environments on the ground showed an increased amount of the substances which are associated with blood clots.

-The study shows that people in the risk group ought to take precautions, says researcher Bjoern Bendz to NRK.

The study is the first of its kind, and the result will be published in the respected medical journal The Lancet.

-It is the first time blood tests have been taken during the actual exposure to the environment found in the cabin of an airliner, Bendz says.

http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?folder_id=1&cluster_id=14417

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 10, 2000.