According to reports, the Federal Aviation Administration has approved a regulation that requires operators of older US-registered Boeing 737s to install new warning systems within three years that will warn pilots of pressurization problems onboard.
The warning systems are in response to a 2005 crash of a Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 that was flying from Cypress to Greece. That crash occurred when the aircraft had climbed to its cruising level without automatic cabin pressurization. Without the cabin pressurized the human brain develops hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, and falls unconscious.
In fact, on the Cyprus Helios flight, the plane flew on autopilot while all passengers and crew on board were unconscious from hypoxia, eventually crashing in an uninhabited area near the approach to Athens airport.
The FAA regulation was issued to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. The new regulation will require some type of warning lights in the cockpit and other parts of the aircraft, reports say.
Aviation workers and commercial passengers have enough risks without adding to the risk by lack of functioning aircraft. Workers know some of the risks. But adding to those risks by individual negligence or under-training employees increases the in-the-air danger tremendously. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident like this, the Doan Law Firm, P.C., led by Houston personal injury attorney Jimmy Doan, has extensive experience personal injury litigation. Contact the Doan Law Firm, P.C. at 1 Riverway, Suite 2055, Houston, Texas 77056, (713) 869-4747 or (800) 910-FIRM.