New Delhi: Another flight, another crisis.
But unlike in recent weeks, when most of the negative reports and worrying incidents have involved Air India, this one wasn’t about a flight operated by the Tata Group-owned airline.
Passengers aboard a Japan Airlines flight (JL-8696) from China’s Shanghai to Japanese capital city Tokyo recently experienced terrifying and heart-stopping moments when the Boeing 737 aircraft they were travelling on reportedly descended 26,000 feet in 10 minutes, forcing oxygen masks to come out.
There were 191 people on board the flight — operated under a codeshare agreement between Japan Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Spring Japan — which took off from Shanghai Pudong Airport on June 30 en route to Tokyo Narita Airport.
As the passengers were jolted by the sudden drop, they panicked and feared for the worst – that the plane was going to crash.
Many of the passengers began writing down their wills and sending messages to loved ones with personal details such as bank PINs and insurance information.
The flight made an emergency landing at Kansai Airport on Monday night after a cabin depressurisation alert, reported Shanghai Daily. The Boeing 737-800, carrying 191 people, landed safely, with no injuries reported.
According to Associated Press, the aircraft encountered a mid-air mechanical issue that triggered a rapid descent from approximately 36,000 feet to just under 10,500 feet in under 10 minutes around 6.53 pm local time.
A pressurisation system alert was activated during the descent, and the pilot declared an emergency, diverting the flight to Kansai International Airport in Osaka.
Oxygen masks were released as cabin pressure dropped. Footage from the flight shows passengers wearing oxygen masks as flight attendants delivered instructions.
On June 12, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane on the Ahmedabad-London route killed 270 people after crashlanding with 30 seconds of take-off.
There have been multiple near-misses since then, most involving Boeing planes.
