I have a question from my parents and I, they’re back from Thailand now. They just got back yesterday night from Hong Kong and they said their airbus 320 was flying at 42,000 ft. They said that’s the highest they ever flew and when I checked online I saw the max operating limit of that aircraft was 39,000. But other aircrafts can have different limits. They’re curious to know if that’s normal?
From what I am reading, it seems the operating limit of the a320 is 39,100 ft. But that makes me wonder why the pilots would exceed the limit to 42,000.
Kaitlyn,
I’m really not certain what the max ceiling for a 320 is (but 390 sounds familiar). Regardless no the pilots would not exceed that limit. If that’s what was displayed on the passenger info screens I’d believe the error was in the screen not the pilots exceeding a limitation.
Adam
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/25.841
§ 25.841 Pressurized cabins.
(a) Pressurized cabins and compartments to be occupied must be equipped to provide a cabin pressure altitude of not more than 8,000 feet at the MAXIMUM operating altitude of the airplane under NORMAL operating conditions.
(1) If certification for operation above 25,000 feet is requested, the airplane must be designed so that occupants will not be exposed to cabin pressure altitudes in excess of 15,000 feet after any probable failure condition in the pressurization system.
Found this and found it interesting.
Others have experienced this.
“ About a week ago, I was flying from Boston to San Juan in an A320 and noticed that the flight was staying at about 42000 feet for the major part of the trip, according to the flight map screen on the plane’s entertainment system. That struck me as an unusually high altitude and I am even more surprised now that I have read a little on the subject. I am wondering if that was even possible, or the altitude readout to the entertainment system was simply wrong. The flight proceeded uneventfully in other ways, and was on time.
What is the ceiling altitude for the Airbus A320?”
Someone answered:
From a legal standpoint in the US: Flying above 40,000 ft requires special certification, but is not impossible for a civilian aircraft (many business jets fly well above). This is because in case of depressurization the aircraft must go down to 15,000 or 10,000 ft to find safe breathable air and this takes time, but hypoxia can create permanent brain damages or be lethal in a few seconds. See US 14 CFR 25.841. At a previous time the ceiling was 41,000 ft.
Lastly found this:
The Part 25.841 pressurized limit is now effectively 43,000 ft by certification waivers. The A380, A350, and 787 are all certified to 43,000 ft.
So I guess A320 is allowed under circumstances and certification from pilots to fly at 40,000-43,000ft. Seems that’s common with A320s to fly at 41,000ft.
Kaytlyn,
Lots of info and numbers (but I don’t see anything that you researched saying it’s over 410) but regardless again the takeaway is pilots will not exceed a limitation of the airplane.
Adam
#1.
Flying above 40,000 ft requires special certification, but is not impossible for a civilian aircraft (many business jets fly well above). This is because in case of depressurization the aircraft must go down to 15,000 or 10,000 ft to find safe breathable air and this takes time, but hypoxia can create permanent brain damages or be lethal in a few seconds.
See US 14 CFR [25.841]
At a previous time the ceiling was 41,000 ft.
#2.
The Part 25.841 pressurized limit is now effectively 43,000 ft by certification waivers. The A380, A350, and 787 are all CERTIFIED to 43,000 ft.
So A320 can go to 43,000 but not higher.
The reason it’s less (39,000-41,000) is because in case of an emergency they want to be able to descend in time.
It is important to remember that every airline has their own Op Specs and even the limitations on the aircraft can vary from one airline to the next. So while one airline might be limited to 39,100 in the A320, another might have gotten a waiver to fly to 41,000 in the exact same airplane.