A United Airlines flight to Rome with nearly 300 people on board fell more than 8,534 meters in just 10 minutes due to a drop in cabin pressure.
Flight data shows that on the night of September 13, a Boeing 777 (flight number: UAL510) flying from Newark Liberty International Airport to Rome Fiumicino International Airport rose from an altitude of 11,277 meters to an altitude of 2,650 meters in just ten minutes.
The aircraft circled twice over Nova Scotia, Canada, and returned after stabilizing at altitude at about 10:30 p.m.
A United Airlines spokesman said the plane, which was carrying 270 passengers and 14 crew members, flew back to Newark to "address possible loss of cabin pressure." The spokesperson then said: "The aircraft landed safely and the cabin pressure was never lost. ”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which manages U.S. flights, also said the plane experienced "pressurization issues" that caused it to change course. United Airlines said passengers on the plane eventually flew to Italy on another plane.
The air chaos comes as American Airlines lashes out at the FAA for not hiring enough staff, resulting in hundreds of flights being delayed or canceled during the record travel season.
After a record U.S. summer tourist season, airlines faced flight difficulties and voluntarily cut flights due to air traffic shortages. They want to add more flights to meet demand, and top executives at airlines have criticized the FAA for not doing enough to help them meet that demand.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told an industry conference on Tuesday that "in the short to medium term, we must reduce flights at heavily affected airports because the system cannot cope with the current number of flights." We are selling flights and we know we will not be able to operate due to air traffic control challenges. ”
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, who was a harsh critic of the FAA this summer, said at the conference that the problem of lagging air traffic staffing levels "is a two-decade accumulation that will take years to resolve." ”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in July, there were 46 "one-size-fits-all" incidents between commercial airlines.
Some of the near-missed incidents include one on July 2 when a Southwest Airlines flight landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and just seconds later hit a Delta Air Lines plane that was preparing to take off from the same runway.
In San Francisco, two takeoff planes nearly hit a Frontier Airlines plane that had just landed and was waiting to cross the runway.
Another accident between an American Airlines and United Airlines aircraft near Minden, Louisiana, caused a U.S. pilot to jerk the plane to 700 feet at more than 500 mph to avoid a collision.