So I'm getting used to my new F/O yesterday, first flight on vatsim with fs2crew. While climbing out and getting settled after takeoff, suddenly the takeoff config horn starts going off. I scratch my head for about 30 seconds and cant figure out why this bloody thing won't shut up. It's then that I decide my noob F/O must have messed up, so I do a scan the overhead.... And for some obscure reason, the cabin is not pressurizing! Everything looks right, but were losing pressure. As I push the nose over, I'm wondering why Boeing would have used the same tone for both problems... Not a great help there!So later im sitting in bed that very night with this ipad looking for something to surf, and I come across an episode of Mayday on youtube.... You may have heard about the Helios crash? Yeah... This was one hell of a coincidence!!! Search for it if you don't know the story, I didn't, and it's sad that such errors can still get made!I'm happy to say that (in the comfort of my office) I worked that problem better than that crew! :PThis sim continues to awe me.Regards,George

I think McDonnell Douglas did it better. The difference between BEEP-BEEP F-UH-LAP and BEEP-BEEP CABIN ALTITUDE is better than BEEP-BEEP-BEEP and BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.

Thats why the is a cabin altitude light on the newer ones.JackColwill

I'm happy to say that (in the comfort of my office) I worked that problem better than that crew! :PRegards,George

You weren't suffering from hypoxia in your office.Bert Van Bulck

This is very true, I was well oxygenated. I also had a nice glass of scotch, so overall a much nicer environment hahah.

It's then that I decide my noob F/O must have messed up, so I do a scan the overhead.... And for some obscure reason, the cabin is not pressurizing!

Did your FO leave the packs off ? That has happened to me at least once with my new FO.

I'm not sure actually. Are the packs required for pressurization?

I'm not sure actually. Are the packs required for pressurization?

I am still learning all the systems... I just know I got the beep-beep-beep, silenced it with the Alt Horn Cutout button and noticed it was nearly freezing in the cabin. The packs were off in my case.

Good to know! Boeing really got their money's worth out of that horn.

Even though using two different horns for the two distinctly different warnings would be preferable, I can easily see why Boeing used the same horn for the two.The two scenarios which trigger the horn, can never happen at the same time (during normal OPS).I think you'd have to try really hard to find a crew which doesn't recognize the correct scenario, especially after the Helios flight. Although hypoxia would be an issue, when the cabin altitude horn sounds, hypoxia shouldn't yet have set in.Part of flying is recognizing problems quickly, and to think ahead, the Helios crew failed to do just that.

The worst part is, by my count they had three distinct chances to get that press mode switch right, and that's before the horn sounded. It's remarkable that they failed this consistently. Really sad, and avoidable in every way.Regards,George

Yes the packs are required for pressurization.

The worst part is, by my count they had three distinct chances to get that press mode switch right, and that's before the horn sounded. It's remarkable that they failed this consistently. Really sad, and avoidable in every way.

The sad fact of aviation accidents is that most of them are a string of errors, not just one bad one. The reason aviation is so safe, I'd argue, is that we have steps in place to snag them: checklists, CRM training, check flights and so on. Every once in a while, either through multiple people not doing their part, or a single crew missing mistake after mistake, things do happen unfortunately.