Passengers on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale got a huge scare when their plane dropped almost 30k feet!
Flight 2352 was halfway through its journey Wednesday when the plane dropped from an altitude of 39,000 feet to 10,000 feet, WSB-TV reported.
The plane was having a cabin pressurization issue and needed to descend to a safe altitude ASAP to land. Having this sort of emergency during flight is very rare. The only thing to remember is to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before putting one on children. If you don’t, you could begin experiencing hypoxia aka lack of oxygen. There is also an extra mask in each row in case there is a small child in someone’s lap or if an extra mask is needed. Also, check around you to see if someone is struggling to put the mask on. Ring your call button so the flight attendant or someone else can help. Senior citizens or unaccompanied minors might panic and forget to put a mask on.
Delta passenger Harris DeWoskin said: “Out of nowhere, I felt what felt like a sort of a rapid descent. We started dropping in altitude and then the oxygen masks dropped from the top of the plane.
DeWoskin continued: Chaos sort of ensued amongst the passengers. One of the flight attendants, I believe, grabbed the intercom and was just repeating over the intercom stating, ‘Do not panic! Do not panic!’ But, obviously, it’s a hectic moment so, the passengers around me, a lot of people, were kind of hyperventilating.”
DeWoskin was able to take pictures of the chaos and also called his family.
The flight was diverted to Tampa where DeWoskin rebooked on a Southwest flight. The plane is grounded in Tampa as an investigation into what happened continues.
We can’t emphasize this enough: One key thing to remember is to always put your oxygen mask on first and then put one on your children.
