Planes pressurized to 8000 feet or not?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Dectek

Guest
Messages
795
Reaction score
1
Location
near Atlantic City
# of dives
200 - 499
I was always under the assumption that airplane cabins were pressurized to 8000 feet but was told differently.

Back story... Five days before my vacation i was diving with Tanked 2.0 at Dutch Springs and just after entering the water for our second dive I got a sharp pain in my right ear that felt like an ice pick was shoved in there. I pushed on after a few minutes and we continued. I later got a bad earache and had to take percocets to get to sleep that night. It turns out that I got a small tear in the tympanic membrane and was advised not to dive or fly but i would be ok in a week or three. I was told later that some folks call that a ruptured eardrum but I don't think the doc saw it that way. He just said something like a little blood either in or behind the ear drum or that membrame. I am not sure of the wording because I was thinking if I would be able to dive on Vacation or not. Some antibiotics and some vitamin E to but in the ear and we were away.


Our flight took off from Philly and stopped over in Baltimore to pick up more passengers before going to Cancun. I figured If I had bad pain on the short flight I would get off and take a bus home.
BACK TO THE PLANE (Sorry) I was having a conversation before boarding with a flight crew member about the cabin pressure and the possibility of my disembarking at BWI.The Captain overheard us and entered the conversation by informing me that the AIRBUS A320 we were flying in was pressurized to 1000 feet not 8000. I don't know if it was for just the short hop at 12000 feet or also at the cruising alt of 34000 on the long leg too.

Has anyone heard of any other numbers than 5000 to 8000 feet? I did a few searches on cabin pressure but do not find too much.
 
I'm still checking this, but as I recall, a jetliner is pressurezed at about 8000 for flight at its designated cruising altitude. Anything below 10,000 feet does not require pressurization. And then, you can go higher than 10k for less than 30 minutes.

I'm a pilot, but I don't fly pressurized planes.

Hope this helps.

Jeff
 
Dectek:
I was always under the assumption that airplane cabins were pressurized to 8000 feet but was told differently.

Back story... Five days before my vacation i was diving with Tanked 2.0 at Dutch Springs and just after entering the water for our second dive I got a sharp pain in my right ear that felt like an ice pick was shoved in there. I pushed on after a few minutes and we continued. I later got a bad earache and had to take percocets to get to sleep that night. It turns out that I got a small tear in the tympanic membrane and was advised not to dive or fly but i would be ok in a week or three. I was told later that some folks call that a ruptured eardrum but I don't think the doc saw it that way. He just said something like a little blood either in or behind the ear drum or that membrame. I am not sure of the wording because I was thinking if I would be able to dive on Vacation or not. Some antibiotics and some vitamin E to but in the ear and we were away.


Our flight took off from Philly and stopped over in Baltimore to pick up more passengers before going to Cancun. I figured If I had bad pain on the short flight I would get off and take a bus home.
BACK TO THE PLANE (Sorry) I was having a conversation before boarding with a flight crew member about the cabin pressure and the possibility of my disembarking at BWI.The Captain overheard us and entered the conversation by informing me that the AIRBUS A320 we were flying in was pressurized to 1000 feet not 8000. I don't know if it was for just the short hop at 12000 feet or also at the cruising alt of 34000 on the long leg too.

Has anyone heard of any other numbers than 5000 to 8000 feet? I did a few searches on cabin pressure but do not find too much.

I can't say anything about 'all' flights, but after looking at an accurate altimeter on several hundred flight in commercial jets, the most relative altitude I've seen is 8300 ft. That was on a small connecting jet.

Stan
 
Being a Skydiver I know that as long as you are not above 15,000' then you don't need oxygen. We jump out at usually 12,500' with the door open all the way to altitude. So it would seem that anything under this altitude would not have an adverse affect on you.....

but what do I know people are always telling me I'm crazy....
 
tribaltim:
Being a Skydiver I know that as long as you are not above 15,000' then you don't need oxygen. We jump out at usually 12,500' with the door open all the way to altitude. So it would seem that anything under this altitude would not have an adverse affect on you.....

but what do I know people are always telling me I'm crazy....

I am a skydiver too...and the rule is 10,000 feet, not 15,000 feet. But you can remain above 10,000 feet for about a half hour. Skydive planes keep the time to far less than that. Here in Maine, our jumps are normally from 13,000 feet.

Just to be clear, there are other factors, but those numbers are good rules of thumb.

Jeff
 
jtoorish:
I am a skydiver too...and the rule is 10,000 feet, not 15,000 feet. But you can remain above 10,000 feet for about a half hour. Skydive planes keep the time to far less than that. Here in Maine, our jumps are normally from 13,000 feet.

Just to be clear, there are other factors, but those numbers are good rules of thumb.

Jeff

Well Jeff I'm not sure what kind of Skydiving liscense you have but if you look up the regulations under United States Parachute Association it's anything over 15,000' you need an oxygen mask otherwise you do not have to wear a mask at all.
 
Quote:
FAA regulations requires a cabin-pressure altitude of not more than 8,000 feet at maximal operating altitude of the aircraft under normal operating conditions. Serious health effects may occur in some people, such as infants and those with cardiorespiratory diseases, due to decreased oxygen concentration. Temporary pain or discomfort in the middle ear or sinuses may also occur.
Unquote

from Government Subcommittee on Aviation Hearing on The Aircraft Cabin Environment
 
I've turned on my altimeter (GPS) several times inside a jet... the altitude usually reads close to 5000'... Not the GPS Elevation, but the altimeter function.
 

Back
Top Bottom