An American Airlines flight dropped over 15,000 feet In three minutes on Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 5916, headed from Charlotte, North Carolina to Gainesville, Florida, “landed safely at Gainesville Regional Airport in Florida around 4:55 p.m. local time,” the FAA said in a statement, noting that “the crew reported a possible pressurization issue.”
“Something failed midflight and depressurized the cabin,” passenger and University of Florida professor Harrison Hove, wrote on Twitter (now known as X). “The burning smell can apparently be attributed to using the oxygen canisters. The wing flaps came out to immediately lower our altitude so there would be more oxygen. It was terrifying but turned out ok.”
Harrison told WBTV the burning smell is what perpetuated his fear. “That’s when I get really nervous,” he said, adding “Those initial moments were really scary, really freaky, because your mind wanders and you have a void of information.”
The flight plunged almost 20,000 feet in 11 minutes, as shown by data from FlightAware. The descent began 39 minutes after takeoff, lasting 2 hours and 8 minutes in total, according to the flight records, which showed the most drastic drop occurring at the 42-minute mark and continued for six minutes. The flight lost 18,600 feet of altitude.
“I’ve flown a lot. This was scary,” Harrison wrote in another Tweet. “Kudos to our amazing flight crew- cabin staff and pilots on @AmericanAir 5916. The photos cannot capture the burning smell, loud bang or ear pops. Good to be on the ground.”
An American Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business that the plane “safely descended to a lower altitude” after receiving a report of the “possible pressurization issue.”
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“We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and thank our team for their professionalism,” the spokesperson said.
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The FAA will investigate, according to the release.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Source: HIS Education