An aircraft's cabin pressure failed while it was flying over Clacton - and so did the oxygen masks, an accident investigation has revealed.
The Beech 200 Super King Air, which had eight passengers and two crew on board, was 12 nautical miles north-east of Clacton when the incident happened.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the aircraft was flying from Oxford to Amsterdam on July 23, 2002, when there was a sudden bang and hissing noise, and the cabin atmosphere became fogged.
The plane descended but the reason for decompression could not be found, so the aircraft returned to Oxford.
After landing, the main cabin door could not be opened so the passengers left through the emergency exit.
The emergency oxygen system did not deploy automatically. The commander decided not to operate the system manually as the plane was already descending and masks may have caused further stress and confusion.
The reason for decompression was a pin on the main cabin door had moved from a roller.
Published Monday, August 4, 2003
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