On June 22, 2024, ANA flight 372 from Nagasaki to Nagoya Chubu operated by a Boeing 737-800 registered JA88AN encountered issues with pressurization. On June 26, 2024, the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) classified the incident as a “serious incident.”
The flight, operated by ANA’s subsidiary ANA Wings had a total of 98 passengers and six crew members (two pilots and four flight attendants) on board. Less than an hour after take-off, around 10:25AM, the aircraft was cruising at 31,000 feet over Wakayama Prefecture when a warning indicating a problem with the aircraft’s pressurization system set off. With that, the aircraft commenced descent to a lower altitude.
At around 25,000 feet, a warning indicating a drop in cabin pressure set off. That prompted the cockpit crew to deploy oxygen masks and declare an emergency. The emergency declaration was later withdrawn, since the cabin pressure stabilized when the aircraft descended to an altitude of 10,000 feet.
The aircraft landed safely at its original destination, Nagoya Chubu at 10:56AM.
Eleven of the 104 people onboard including seven passengers and all four cabin crew members reported ear pain and other discomfort after the flight. As of the time of publishing this article, the aircraft involved in the incident has not operated any flight after the incident.
This is ANA’s second “serious incident” this year following early April’s incident in which ANA flight 389’s ground proximity warning system (GPWS) was activated. The JCAB classifies incidents as “serious” when the likelihood of the incident possibly having resulted in an accident (i.e. an event that causes serious injury or death or damage to the aircraft) was high.
