Plane descended 5,000ft a minute

AN AER LINGUS airbus on the Dublin/London route was forced to descend at 5,000-feet a minute following warnings that cabin pressure was dangerously low.

The incident happened shortly after take-off, at 10.36am, from Heathrow Airport on January 26, 2004.

As the aircraft was climbing, the crew received an ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitoring) warning that the cabin altitude was excessive and a subsequent warning of low cabin pressure. The captain donned his oxygen mask and asked for descent. Rapid depressurisation continued and the First Officer (FO) donned his oxygen mask. The FO put out an emergency call and got permission from air traffic control to descend into Cardiff Airport.