Delta Airlines Flight Plunges 30,000 Feet, Sends Passengers Into Panic

A Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, Florida was a nightmare for passengers Wednesday thanks to a horrifying seven minutes when the plane fell almost 30,000 feet. The flight was about halfway through its trip when the pilots had to make a “controlled descent” to make an emergency landing in Tampa. The flight experienced an issue with cabin pressurization.

Flight 2353 was “diverted to Tampa out of an abundance of caution and landed without incident following a cabin pressurization irregularity en route,” a Delta spokesperson told WFTS. The plane is still grounded at the Tampa airport, to be checked by technicians.

“I immediately reached out to my girlfriend, my family and let them know some scary stuff is going on right now on the plane. The oxygen masks dropped, let them know I loved them,” Harris DeWoskin, one of the passengers, told WFTS. “In hindsight, we turned out alright. Just my intuition, reach out to my family and to the people I know what’s going on I love them.”

DeWoskin said he felt a “rapid descent” and the oxygen masks popped out from the ceiling, which started a “chaos” among the passengers.

“Initially, it was sort of a panic there wasn’t really any forewarning,” DeWoskin explained. “The oxygen masks dropped down then one of the flight attendants, I believe, grabbed the intercom and was just repeatedly 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 breathing really hard.”

DeWoskin said he was rebooked on a Southwest flight from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale, and Delta said he would be reimbursed.

“Life is fragile. There was a scary 60 to 90 seconds where we really didn’t know what was going on,” DeWoskin told WFTS. “You are 15,000 feet in the air; it’s a scary moment for sure.”

Twitter user [Brutus Osceola] shared photos from the flight, including a picture of himself holding his young son.

“God Bless the Captain and crew. Had an emergency midair from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale. Oxygen masks deployed and we descended quickly and we’re diverted to Tampa. I texted my wife and dad I loved them. Told my mom I love her and hugged my son,” the Twitter user wrote.

As the New York Post notes, commercial planes’ typical cruising altitude is about 35,000 feet, but can vary from 33,000 to 42,000 feet.

“We apologize to our customers on flight 2353 from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, which diverted to Tampa out of an abundance of caution and landed without incident following a cabin pressurization irregularity en route,” Delta added in its statement.

Photo credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images