AirAsia has seen one of its A320s suffer mid-flight pressurization issues on two consecutive days, leading to the aircraft making emergency descents on both occasions. According to reports, no one onboard either flight suffered any injuries, though at the time of writing the aircraft remains grounded, pending further investigations.
Both incidents involved Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-200 with registration PK-AZL. The first event occurred as the plane operated flight QZ154 from Medan, Indonesia (KNO) to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport (DMK) in Thailand on February 7. 2024. The aircraft was en route at 36,000ft (10,800m) over the Gulf of Thailand when the crew was forced to initiate an emergency descent to 10,000ft (3,000m) due to loss of cabin pressure.
The aircraft continued to its destination flying at 10,000ft so that the wearing of onboard oxygen masks was no longer required. The flight made for a safe landing in Bangkok about an hour later. Notably, the aircraft immediately returned to service after the incident, flying to Jakarta (CGK) in Indonesia.
Following the incident, Thai aviation authorities confirmed that “events onboard QZ154 required the emergency use of oxygen by the flight crew and passengers and that the occurrence is being investigated by Indonesia’s Authorities.”
However, despite having taken to the air again immediately after the first event, the aircraft concerned suffered a similar occurrence the following day (February 8, 2024).
The same plane was then performing flight QZ810 from Jakarta to Denpasar, Indonesia (DPS), and was en route at 35,000ft (10,500m) about 10 miles northeast of Surabaya (Indonesia). Following a loss of cabin pressure, the crew was again forced to initiate an emergency descent down to 10,000ft. The aircraft continued to Denpasar to make a safe landing about 45 minutes later after leaving its cruise altitude.
At the time of writing, the aircraft involved in both incidents has not flown since and remains on the ground in Denpasar, presumably awaiting inspection and repair. Indonesia’s aviation authority has rated the second occurrence as a “serious incident” and has since opened an investigation.
PL-AZL, the aircraft in question, is 15.6 years old and first flew on July 28, 2008. It originally operated for AirAsia Malaysia as 9M-AMP before being transferred to Indonesia AirAsia in August 2018. The aircraft is configured in an all-economy 180-seat layout and is flown under an operating lease from lessor Aircastle.
