A Delta Air Lines flight on its way to Salt Lake City was forced to make an emergency landing in Las Vegas last week after dropping around 8.2 km (27,000 feet) in just 10 minutes, causing panic among passengers as oxygen masks suddenly deployed in the cabin.
The aircraft, which was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, suffered a depressurisation while flying at around 35,000 feet over the Mojave Desert. The pilots began a rapid descent to reach breathable air as quickly as possible, prompting the deployment of oxygen masks throughout the cabin. They then diverted to land at the nearest suitable airport.
The Boeing 737–900 ER had taken off without issue from Los Angeles International Airport; the incident occurred approximately halfway through the flight.
@flightdrama Delta Air Lines Flight 2311 made a rapid descent and diverted to Las Vegas after the passenger oxygen masks deployed. In ATC audio, the crew can be heard telling controllers: “Delta 2311 currently rapid descent. We’d like to get down to 9,000 and we’re direct Las Vegas.” Controllers cleared the aircraft down to 9,000 feet before directing the flight toward Harry Reid International Airport and advising the crew to expect Runway 26L. Despite the dramatic descent, the aircraft landed safely in Las Vegas. #Delta #Aviation #Flightdrama ♬ original sound – FlightDrama
Inside the cockpit, both pilots put on airtight oxygen masks equipped with built-in microphones and declared an emergency to Las Vegas air traffic control.
In recordings, one of the pilots can be heard saying: “Delta 2311, currently in rapid descent, we’d like to descend to 9,000 feet. And we’re direct Las Vegas.”
The air traffic controller then asked the crew if the oxygen masks had dropped. The pilot responded: “Affirmative”.
Incidents of this kind involving pressurisation are extremely rare. They can be caused by a malfunction in the aircraft’s pressurisation system, a leak, or a structural problem. The precise reason it happened on this flight has yet to be determined.
At 35,000 feet, passengers and crew have an estimated 30 to 60 seconds of “useful consciousness” once oxygen masks drop, before the effects of hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen to the body, begin to set in impairing functions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
@jenniegraceg Google says this only happens 10 times in every 1 billion flight hours… #oxygenmasks #deltaflight #emergencylanding #travelstories #bucketlistmoment ♬ Saxophones getting louder – Sped Up – AntonioVivald
Although the pilots reacted according to protocol, following emergency procedures and ultimately securing a safe landing, passengers on board described scenes of panic, triggered by the sudden, rapid descent combined with the deployment of the masks.
The confusion was exacerbated by the fact that it was difficult for passengers to make out the crew members’ announcements, since the latter were themselves wearing oxygen masks.
One passenger described the incident as “pretty traumatic” on Reddit, adding that the scariest part “wasn’t even the descent, it was not knowing what was going on”.
He added that the cabin was “confused and pretty panicked”.
A rapid descent following a serious loss of cabin pressure is standard procedure once the oxygen masks have deployed. Failure to descend in such circumstances could indicate something far more alarming, such as the possibility of pilot incapacitation due to hypoxia.
@jord.maynard5 When your @delta flight from Los Angeles makes an emergency stop in Las Vegas due to system failures you could say the saxophones got a little loud as we went from 30,000 feet to 8,000 feet really quick #DeltaAirlines #EmergencyLanding #AviationTikTok #FlightEmergency #traveltok ♬ Saxophones getting louder – Sped Up – AntonioVivald
A Delta spokesperson told Fox News that safety was the airline’s priority, stating that “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 pressurisation issue occurred”.
The plane landed safely at Harry Reid International Airport, and passengers were offered alternative travel arrangements to reach their destination.
Delta apologised to the passengers and thanked their “flight crews and other support teams on the ground for their professionalism”.
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, a retired US Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot from Florida, told Fox News that such incidents were “an extremely rare issue ” in the United States.
