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| Date: | Saturday 20 May 2023 |
| Time: | c. 17:44 UTC |
| Type: |  Airbus A320-232 (WL) |
| Owner/operator: | Etihad Airways |
| Registration: | A6-EIX |
| MSN: | 6134 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2014 |
| Engine model: | IAE V2527-A5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 122 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | near Abu Dhabi -
 United Arab Emirates
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH/OMAA) |
| Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY/OLBA) | |
| Investigating agency: | GCAA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 20 May 2023, an Airbus A320 Aircraft, registration marks A6-EIX, operated by Etihad Airways, was scheduled for flight number EY535 for the sector Abu Dhabi International Airport (OMAA1), the United Arab Emirates, to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (OLBA), Lebanon. There were 122 persons on-board, comprising 114 passengers and 2 flight crew members, and 6 cabin crew members.
The Commander was the pilot flying (PF) and the Copilot was the pilot monitoring (PM).
During the take-off roll, at 1736:48, an electronic centralized aircraft monitoring (ECAM) alert “VENT
SKIN VALVE FAULT" triggered, at the time Aircraft was at 47 knots ground speed, 49 knots indicated air
speed (IAS). The alert was followed by master caution activation.
The Commander decided to proceed with the takeoff, and the Aircraft lifted off at 1737:21. After
completing the take-off/climb checklist, at 3,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL), the crew initiated the abnormal procedures associated with the ECAM alert message. The crew first set the avionics
ventilation system extract and blower pushbuttons to the ‘override’ position.
As the Aircraft continued to climb, the flight crew monitored the results of the taken actions according to the abnormal procedures. At this point, the Aircraft was not pressurizing normally, and the cabin rate of climb was observed to be similar to the Aircraft’s actual rate of climb.
At 1744:31, while passing 11,400 feet MSL, the crew decided to stop the climb and level off at 11,600
feet MSL. At this point, the master warning was triggered with ECAM warning message ‘Cabin Excess Altitude’. Following standard operating procedures, the crew initiated decent to 10,000 feet at 1744:49, reaching 9,980 feet MSL. The PM initially declared ‘mayday’ but later cancelled it,
considering that the Aircraft cabin altitude was not expected to exceed 10,000 feet. As per the flight
data recorder, the cabin altitude did not exceed 10,000 feet at any point during the flight.
At 1753, the Aircraft entered the holding pattern to coordinate with the maintenance control centre
(MCC) and network operations centre (NOC). Once the Aircraft’s technical status has been confirmed,
the PF decided to return to the departure airport.
The Aircraft remained in the holding pattern for 1 hour 55 minutes to burn off fuel, allowing the
Aircraft’s weight to be reduced to the maximum landing weight. At 1948:22 the Aircraft exited the
holding pattern to begin its approach. The Aircraft landed at 2020:53 with no further events.
After landing, the maintenance personnel conducted initial troubleshooting and identified that
the skin air outlet valve (SAOV) was in fully open position.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.gcaa.gov.ae/en/departments/airaccidentinvestigation/Lists/Incidents%20Investigation%20Reports/Attachments/164/AIFN_0008_2023%20_%20Summary%20Report.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/11222953 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 6 January 2018 | A6-EIX | Etihad Airways | 0 | Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO/HKJK) |  |
min |
| Collision with Ground support equipment | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Jul-2025 16:46 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 17-Jul-2025 16:47 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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