EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
While climbing through 16;000 feet to FL250 we received an alarm for cabin altitude. The cabin altitude was passing through 10;000 feet. As the PF I immediately stopped the climb and advised ATC. We ran the QRH and requested a new clearance from ATC to descend to 10;000 feet. At this point due to the uncertainty of the problem and the proximity to the departure airport I advised ATC that we were requesting vectors back. I advised the flight attendant via NTSB briefing as well as the passengers. Upon reaching 10;000 feet the cabin altitude alarm ceased. We notified dispatch as well as operations of our intentions to divert back. We safely arrived back and maintenance was notified and the discrepancy noted in the aircraft's maintenance log.The threats for this flight were that I was performing IOE training with a new FO and also the short flight duration compressed our duties and responsibilities. Errors were my failure to properly maintain a scan of all critical instruments during the flight to include the aircraft's pressurization. The anomaly occurred when the aircraft's cabin altitude exceeded its normal operating range. The anomaly was corrected by descending the aircraft to a safe cabin altitude.Lessons I learned from this incident are that as a Captain and new Check Pilot I should constantly monitor the aircraft for any anomalies and trap them before they become a problem. In other words I should not allow the flight to dictate the cadence of the operation. Another lesson I learned was that several times ATC asked me if it was an emergency. I felt that I had the situation under control and I did not require the additional support that comes with an emergency. In hindsight this was a foolish and 'macho' type of behavior that I must be cognizant of and work to correct especially considering that in this event I was operating the aircraft with an inexperienced FO.
EMB-145 Captain experiences a cabin altitude warning passing through 16;000 feet while training a new First Officer. The climb is stopped and descent to 10;000 feet is initiated while ATC is contacted and vectors requested back to the departure airport.