B757 flight crew experiences very high noise levels and temperatures from the air conditioning system shortly after takeoff. Calls from the cabin go unnoticed and communication is impossible until a pack is turned off. Flight Attendants then report that the cabin walls around row 13 are inflating and the crew returns to the departure airport for an over weight landing.
Synopsis
B757 flight crew experiences very high noise levels and temperatures from the air conditioning system shortly after takeoff. Calls from the cabin go unnoticed and communication is impossible until a pack is turned off. Flight Attendants then report that the cabin walls around row 13 are inflating and the crew returns to the departure airport for an over weight landing.
Narrative
Right pack auto mode on placard due to inbound crew unable to control temperature. Right pack was being operated in STBY MODE N. Right RECIRC FAN on placard. Captain was pilot flying and I was pilot not flying. At 600 FT AGL temperature on flight deck went full hot and airflow increased to a level I have not ever experienced in my 6;000 hours on this airplane. Noise from pack flow made it impossible to communicate verbally with the Captain. Captain continued to fly the airplane despite all the distraction. Using hand signals and some common sense we cleaned the airplane up and leveled at 5;000 FT. All indications in cockpit were normal but it was obvious we had a problem. Cockpit temperature was now 99 degrees. Flight Attendant had tried to call cockpit numerous times but we never heard the chime. At one point I saw the call light on and I picked up the phone and they were talking over each other trying to describe a problem in the back of the airplane; but do to the noise and lack of detail I was unable to understand them. Captain instructed me to turn the pack off. I selected the left pack to turn off as I was trying to immediately reduce airflow to the cockpit to restore our ability to communicate. Airflow reduced to a level that we now could communicate; cockpit then went full cold and temperature was now 60. Captain decided to make an immediate return (good call) as we know there is problem in the back of the airplane but to what extent we are unsure. Emergency declared and uneventful overweight landing made on the runway. Upon gate arrival we found the side wall panels on both sides of the aircraft at row 12; 13; and 14 had ballooned inward some 12 to 18 inches and were cracked and damaged. A deadheading pilot in the cabin described the sidewalls as if they had been inflated. He indicated that at our first level off (5;000 FT) they compressed back against the fuselage into place. During our return we had one intermediate level off and at that point the side walls expanded and contracted again. He described the scene in the back as chaos (screaming and crying passengers) but indicated the Flight Attendant's did a great job attempting to keep everyone calm.Observations: 1 - Captain did a great job continuing to fly the airplane and not be distracted. 2 - No checklist procedure in the QRH for something like this; we were on our own. 3 - Temperature problem was written up on the inbound. I believe Maintenance mis-identified the problem and placarded the wrong item. At this Station Maintenance is generally too quick to placard and go and not diagnosing the problems they are presented with. 4 - In follow up discussions with the Flight Attendant's we learned that due to the fact that we were not answering the calls from them they were contemplating entering the door code and attempting to make entry into the cockpit to see if; 'we were ok'. We never heard the calls and even if we had I am not sure they would have received much information from us at that moment. I think someone needs to explain to the masses that maybe we are not answering because we are actually busy working a compounding problem. Attempting to enter the cockpit unannounced during an emergency is a bad; bad idea. Upon entering the door code we would have selected the 'deny' position on the cockpit door control to limit access but the additional distraction created could have been overwhelming to say the least.
Second reporter narrative
Aircraft had the right pack replaced recently; right recirc fan on placard; prior to departure the right pack auto temperature control was placarded (positioned to STBY N); and the pressurization panel replaced. Takeoff was made with Captain as pilot flying. We started our turn at 400 FT. At approximately 600 FT the cockpit temperature went full hot. At 1;000 FT [we] started to cleanup the aircraft. Moments later excessive air noise made oral communications in the cockpit impossible. We got the aircraft cleaned up and I pointed and motioned for First Officer to turn off the packs. He turned off the Left Pack and noise level decreased enough to hear each other. I decided to return. First Officer noted we were above max landing weight so we declared an emergency. Sometime while I was flying the First Officer talked to the Flight Attendant's. Though it was so loud he couldn't hear them. They had called and he had seen the call light on the overhead panel while he was attending to our problem. Neither one of us heard the chime. Later they told me they had called 4 separate times. Flight Attendant's called to report 'something was wrong' and that the sidewall at rows 12-14 had bowed inward about 18 inches scaring the passengers. I found this out after turning back when I was giving them the TEST briefing. In the descent the cockpit temperature went full cold. The aircraft weight at touchdown of 204;000 LBS and our sink rate of 200 FPM was noted in the logbook. After passengers were deplaned we saw the sidewalls popped out of place; dented; and cracked. Kudos to my First Officer for a fine job and to the Flight Attendant's for trying to communicate with us and for reassuring the passengers.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.