What happened
On August 3, 2025, at 14:44 UTC, an Airbus A321 (registration EC-OOJ) operated by Iberia experienced a significant bird strike while climbing through approximately 6,400 ft, roughly 17 km north-northwest of Madrid-Barajas Airport (LEMD). The aircraft, flying flight IB0579 to Paris Orly (LFPO) with 148 passengers and 6 crew members, struck a large bird that damaged the nose radome and caused debris to be ingested into the left engine. This ingestion led to the failure of the left engine and the introduction of white smoke into the cabin, prompting the flight crew to don oxygen masks.
During the emergency, several cabin crew members attempted to use their Protective Breathing Equipment (PBE). One crew member was unable to remove the unit from its container, while another sustained a finger injury during the process. A third crew member successfully donned a PBE, but the device failed to deliver oxygen. This crew member lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen and was found by a colleague with visible signs of hypoxia, including cyanosis and facial swelling. The crew member was successfully resuscitated using CPR after the faulty PBE was removed.
The investigation
Investigators examined the PBE units at the manufacturer's facilities, SAFRAN Aerosystems in Grenoble, France. The inspection revealed that the activation lever on the faulty PBE had broken. Testing on a functional PBE demonstrated a specific failure mode: if a crew member places their left thumb too far inward toward the center of the neck seal opening while attempting to pull the hood open, the thumb exerts pressure on the activation lever in a direction that prevents it from rotating, causing it to snap. This breakage can occur without the application of significant force.
Findings
- The primary cause of the engine failure was a bird strike involving a large bird.
- A critical design flaw in the SAFRAN Aerosystems PBE (part number 15-40F-80) allows the activation lever to break if the user's thumb is positioned incorrectly during donning.
- The failure of the PBE prevented the delivery of oxygen, leading to the loss of consciousness of a crew member.
- The risk of this malfunction extends to many other aircraft currently equipped with the same PBE part number.