A Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Brisbane experienced a sudden loss of cabin pressure, prompting an emergency descent. Passengers praised the crew's response, while calls have been made for compensation for psychological trauma.

Council of the City of Sydney

A Virgin Australia flight traveling from Sydney to Brisbane was forced to make a rapid descent after a sudden loss of cabin pressure. Passengers described a dramatic scene as oxygen masks deployed and the aircraft dropped to below 10,000 feet, with some experiencing panic and others remaining calm. The airline has stated that the aircraft is being assessed by engineers and will not return to service until cleared.

Aviation experts suggest the incident was likely caused by an equipment fault rather than operator error, but passengers are seeking more information about the cause. While the crew's actions were widely praised, some passengers have reported ongoing psychological distress. Experts and passengers are calling for changes to compensation laws to include psychological injuries, which are currently not covered under Australian law.

Calls for clarity after Virgin flight makes rapid descent

Checking their flight path, Virgin passenger Nando Barnett could see they'd lost altitude quickly. There was babies crying, there was people singing, there was people praying. Some passengers panicked, others were calm as the captain guided flight VA993 from Sydney to Brisbane to a safe level, 27,000 feet below cruising altitude, settling under 10,000 feet. Nando says it was an aggressive descent before oxygen masks dropped down. You see movies and what you see is quite terrifying, but one thing is seeing a movie and another thing is actually experiencing it. Virgin is standing by its initial statement that the plane is being assessed by engineers and won't be flying until given the all clear. And while different people can have vastly different responses to a traumatic situation, one thing has united every passenger we've spoken to. They want to know what caused the cabin to lose pressure and why. Former pilot and aviation lecturer Chris Smith says it's most likely an equipment problem rather than operator error. We don't know whether it was what we'd call a rapid depressurisation within seconds, I suspect it's not, or it was a gradual depressurisation. But either way there's been some fault I suspect, engineering fault. I think the airline needs to disclose exactly what failed and exactly the mechanism that caused that. Every passenger we've spoken to has praised the actions of the captain and crew, saying they're relieved they were in capable hands and able to land safely. Some of the passengers didn't hear announcements, some of them have been having nightmares. Under Australian law there is no compensation claim available for psychological damage, only for physical injury. Experts say that needs to change as the results can be long lasting. Children are usually very resilient, but there would be a minority of passengers for whom this would be very traumatic and it might even be a permanent injury. Definitely understanding what happened and why it happened. It would just help us to understand this further and prevent it ideally so that no one else has to go through something like this. Pippa Sheehan, 10 News.

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