American Airlines flight drops over 15,000 feet in just 3 minutes, passenger reveals harrowing experience

In a terrifying incident, a Florida-bound American Airlines flight reportedly plummeted over 15,000 feet in just three minutes.

As per report in the Fox Business, the incident occurred on American Airlines Flight 5916, which was travelling from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Gainesville, Florida. Reportedly, the crew reported a potential pressurisation problem on the plane, prompting the aircraft to descend rapidly.

However, the flight subsequently landed safely at Gainesville Regional Airport.

I’ve flown a lot. This was scary. 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,” Hove tweeted.

“Something failed midflight and depressurized the cabin. 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,” he added.

As per flight tracking data from Flightaware, the aircraft descended nearly 20,000 feet within an 11-minute timeframe. Around 43 minutes into the flight, the plane dropped approximately 18,600 feet in just six minutes, the report added.

An American Airlines spokesperson later told Fox Business that the sudden altitude drop was a result of a pressurisation issue.

American Eagle flight 5916, operated by Piedmont Airlines, from Charlotte (CLT) to Gainesville, Florida (GNV) landed safely in GNV on Thursday, August 10. While inflight, the crew received an indication of a possible pressurisation issue and immediately and safely descended to a lower altitude. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and thank our team for their professionalism,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by FOX Business.

Last month, an Allegiant Airlines flight traveling from North Carolina to Florida also encountered severe turbulence, resulting in injuries and fractures.