Less than a week after a pressurization issue aboard a Delta Air Lines resulted in the plane diverting to Las Vegas, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that another Delta flight had a pressurization issue.
According to the FAA incident statement from Thursday, Sept. 10, Delta Air Lines Flight 791 returned safely to John F. Kennedy International Airport around 10:25 a.m. local time Thursday. Before the safe landing, the crew reported a possible pressurization issue.
“The Boeing 757 was headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The FAA will investigate. Please contact the airline for additional information,” said the FAA.
Fox News Digital reported the day prior on the incident that occurred Sept. 6 that resulted in the diversion to Las Vegas. Per the FAA, Delta Air Lines Flight 2311 was diverted safely to Harry Reid International Airport at around 6 p.m. local time Sunday, Sept. 6, “after the crew reported a pressurization issue.”
That Boeing 737 departed from Los Angeles International Airport and was headed to Salt Lake City International Airport before the diversion, said the FAA. Fox News Digital said that oxygen masks suddenly dropped on the 174 passengers in the cabin of that plane and that the crew had to bring the aircraft to a lower altitude, citing a Delta spokesperson.
It also reported that the flight descended roughly 27,000 feet in about 10 minutes. When “a passenger aboard the flight talked about the chaos inside the cabin,” it drew attention online, Fox News Digital said.
While the rapid decent was occurring, pilots and air traffic control could be heard discussing it, the outlet said. Pilots said: “We’d like to get down to 9,000, and we're direct [to] Las Vegas,” per the Fox News Digital report. A pilot also confirmed that oxygen masks had been deployed.
“As safety comes before everything else at Delta, the flight crew of Delta flight 2311 LAX-SLC followed their training and procedures to safely bring the aircraft to optimal altitude when an unexpected pressurization issue occurred,” said the spokesperson cited by Fox News Digital.
Once the plane landed at Harry Reid in Vegas, passengers were able to exit normally, Delta said. Then, the airline arranged for another to take the passengers to their intended destination.
“Delta sincerely apologizes to our customers for their experience and thanks our flight crews and other support teams on the ground for their professionalism,” the spokesperson said, according to Fox News Digital.
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley of Florida, a retired U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot with nearly 40 years of flying experience who was cited by the outlet, said such a pressurization occurrence “is an extremely rare issue” in the U.S.
