Lucky Pilots --B200 Decompression--

[ZachLW 37]

My friend was doing some digging on the B200 and found this older post on the pirep.org forums:

 

http://www.pirep.org...1636ea91eca9bfe

 

The basic gist of the story is that both pilots are extremely fortunate, and the airframe of the tried and true King Air is about as resilient as any pilot could ask for (notwithstanding the windshield)!

[19dcavscout 39]

Wow, incredible story. They are some lucky individuals!

[n4gix 4,947]

After following the breadcrumb trail, it was determined that most of what occurred was entirely due to crew errors. First of all, the B200 did not depressurize due to a blown windshield. The pilot & copilot opted to manually depressurize the a/c to hopefully prevent a blowout, and only afterwards attempted to use the oxygen system, which is entirely bass-ackwards...

 

Also, they had failed to arm the oxy system before takeoff, skipping over that part of the checklist apparently.

[pfflyers 7]

Sounds like they barely missed winning the Darwin Award.

[Cessnaflyer 56]

It would have been better to lower the pressure differential and that could've helped the strain.

[ZachLW 37]

Sounds like they barely missed winning the Darwin Award.

Anyone is capable of mistakes. I've learned to be careful when pointing and laughing in the aviation industry! ^_^

 

Also, they had failed to arm the oxy system before takeoff, skipping over that part of the checklist apparently.

 

Yeah. Such is "typical" (maybe typical is a strong word) on dead head flights when owners/operators are trying to save oxygen. Oxygen can and will leak out when the valve is left on. Quite a strange thing to be worried about if you ask me... Seems the risk outweighs the cost!

 

"HEY! Is this thing on?!" *faints*

 

It would have been better to lower the pressure differential and that could've helped the strain.

 

Another chain in the incident. Both pilots failed to do anything right until it was nearly too late. Still, it's remarkable what the airframe withstood.

[Cessnaflyer 56]

The oxygen system for the pilots should be on. For the passengers the valve is above and behind the cockpit so it is easily forgotten if you don't follow the checklist.

[ZachLW 37]

The oxygen system for the pilots should be on. For the passengers the valve is above and behind the cockpit so it is easily forgotten if you don't follow the checklist.

 

Yeah. My point was that sometimes it's omitted on purpose.

[Cessnaflyer 56]

Yeah. My point was that sometimes it's omitted on purpose.

 

Oh yeah I know. I was just giving some people a little better understanding how the oxygen system can be missed.

[ZachLW 37]

Oh yeah I know. I was just giving some people a little better understanding how the oxygen system can be missed.

 

Actually, I was clueless that there were two separate valves.