Passengers on board a recent flight experienced a collective panic after their plane descended nearly 20,000 feet in 11 minutes.
In a statement regarding the Aug. 10 incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said American Airlines Flight 5916 crew members reported that the plane had experienced what is now thought to be a pressurization issue.
The flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, was headed to Gainesville, Florida.
According to Flight Aware, the plane started to descend from the cruising altitude of 30,000 feet just before 4:07 p.m. ET.
In the following 8 minutes, the plane descended a total of 19,950 feet. By 4:15 p.m. ET, the plane hovered at 10,050 ft before it landed safely in Florida.
In an email statement issued to TODAY.com, the FAA confirmed it will investigate the incident and added that the flight had landed safely at its intended destination.
The FAA spokesperson added, “Pilots are trained to descend below 12,000 feet if there’s a pressurization issue because below that altitude does not require supplemental oxygen. When doing so, pilots make controlled descents.”
In a statement to TODAY.com, a spokesperson from American Airlines confirmed the plane’s rapid descent and noted that the flight had been operated by Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of the company.
“While inflight, the crew received an indication of a possible pressurization issue and immediately and safely descended to a lower altitude,” the statement reads. “We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and thank our team for their professionalism.”
The spokesperson added that there had been 50 customers and three crew members on board at the time and there were no reported injuries.
Harrison Hove, a lecturer at the University of Florida, detailed the experience in an interview TODAY.com via email. He explained that he was returning to Gainesville following a conference and had been looking out the window when he felt the plane begin to descend quickly.
“The plane descended fast. It felt OK, just as if we were landing. The most unnerving thing was the flaps on the wings to slow us down like you would see when a plane is about to land…but this happened in our case at 30,000 feet,” he explained, noting that in addition to this, oxygen masks had tumbled out from the upper compartments of the plane.
Hove and others around him also began to smell something burning, which he said he later learned was a product of the oxygen being used for passengers in such an emergency. Later, the flight’s pilot explained to the passengers that the cabin had lost pressure causing the oxygen masks to fall.
“He told us we had to descend quickly to get to an elevation where we could safely breathe because our oxygen only lasts for 10-15 minutes with the mask,” Hove added. “It wasn’t like you were on a roller coaster and it just fell. It never felt like the pilots lost control. Instead, it was a bunch of factors — seeing the oxygen masks is never a good thing, smelling a burning odor is bad, rapidly descending all make for a scary situation. The pilot communicated after everything was under control, but that was about 15 minutes later.”
“Your mind goes in circles with uncertainty in that moment,” he added. "I have no idea what is going on, but you know something is not right. It was mostly silent because we were told to just breathe with the masks on. I was typing messages on my phone to the passenger next to me. Other people were crying. There was just a lot of mixed reactions.”
“I’ve flown a lot. This was scary. Kudos to our amazing flight crew- cabin staff and pilots on @AmericanAir 5916,” Hove wrote in a tweet shared on Aug 10. Images included in the post feature the professor and other passengers fastening the bright orange masks used to deliver oxygen. “The photos cannot capture the burning smell, loud bang or ear pops. Good to be on the ground. #AA5916 #CLT #GNV.”
