US Airways flight to Florida falls 15,000 feet in 3 minutes: ‘It was terrifying’

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By Adam Sabes, Fox Business

August 13, 2023 | 4:14 a.m

Flight records indicate that an American Airlines plane, bound for Florida, plunged more than 15,000 feet in the space of three minutes.

American Airlines Flight 5916 took off Thursday from Charlotte, North Carolina, and was bound for Gainesville, Florida, when crew members on board reported a possible depressurization problem, an FAA spokesperson said. Fox 35.

The plane landed at Gainesville Regional Airport just before 5 p.m

One passenger, University of Florida Professor Harrison Hoff, wrote on social media that the accident was “terrifying”.

“I’ve traveled a lot,” said Hoff. “Kudos to our amazing cabin staff and pilots on American Airlines 5916.

Pictures cannot capture the burning smell, loud noise, or ear popping.”

FlightAware data shows that the flight descended to approximately 20,000 feet in 11 minutes.

After 43 minutes into the flight, the plane descended 18,600 feet in the space of six minutes.

“Something failed mid-flight and depressurised the cabin,” Hoff said Books on Xformerly known as Twitter.

It appears that the burning smell can be attributed to the use of oxygen canisters. The wing folds came out to immediately reduce our altitude so that there would be more oxygen. It was terrifying, but it turned out okay.”

In a statement, an American Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business that the sudden decrease in altitude was due to a pressure issue.

American Eagle Flight 5916, operated by Piedmont Airlines, from Charlotte (CLT) to Gainesville, Florida (GNV) landed safely at GNV on Thursday, August 10. During the flight, the crew received an indication of a possible decompression problem and immediately and safely descended to low altitude. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and thank our team for their professionalism,” said the spokesperson.