airsupport
15th Feb 2009, 06:27
Passengers on a Virgin Blue flight from Townsville to Brisbane today were "terrified" when the plane made a rapid descent, forcing an emergency landing in Mackay.
Elizabeth Hansen, a passenger onboard on flight DJ 656, said the 737-700 made the emergency landing after it rapidly lost cabin pressure at 30,000 feet.
“We were at 30,000 feet and all of a sudden we took a dive down to 10,000 feet. The pilot told us that the oxygen masks may fall, and ‘not to panic’," she said.
“The next thing we knew we were told we were being diverted to Mackay.”
Mrs Hansen said the plane had been experiencing problems with the air conditioning shortly before the pilot announced an emergency landing was necessary.
“There was a problem with the air conditioning. We weren’t getting any fresh air through,” she said
“When it got hot and clammy we freaked out a bit… the increasing and decreasing of speed freaked us out a lot, as well as the plane rocking.”
Mrs Hansen praised the actions of one stewardesses, who tried to calm the nervous passengers.
“One of the stewardess said ‘it looks like everyone’s starting to freak out, and told us to calm down, saying that everything would be ok… she was really good.”
Mrs Hansen she has been on many flights and never experienced anything as terrifying.
“It was all really scary.”
Mrs Hansen was relieved when the plane touched down safely in Mackay, but was less than pleased with the customer service she experienced afterwards, which left about half of the plane’s estimated 80 passengers stranded.
“It was really stuffy and everyone came out with red faces.
“People with connecting Virgin flights got onboard another flight pretty quickly, while people with connecting flights with other companies were told they’d have to wait several hours for another flight.
“We were told not to expect to be back in Brisbane until 7pm.
“It has been really shocking service… they’ve not been nice to the affected passengers.”
The passengers were also outraged when told they would have to pay for another ticket.
“We were told we would have to pay for the later flight.”
Virgin Blue’s public relations manager Amanda Bolger said the Mackay diversion was precautionary, necessitated by a cockpit indicator.
It was too early to say what caused the indicator to go off, she said.
She said that an engineer is inspecting the plane, and once it has been checked passengers will be allowed back on it.
Passengers with connecting Virgin flights “received priority”, she said.
Passengers would not have to pay for an extra ticket, despite being instructed otherwise.
A spokesperson for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed they received a report of the flight being diverted to Mackay, but said they were not yet aware of the reason behind the diversion.
Elizabeth Hansen, a passenger onboard on flight DJ 656, said the 737-700 made the emergency landing after it rapidly lost cabin pressure at 30,000 feet.
“We were at 30,000 feet and all of a sudden we took a dive down to 10,000 feet. The pilot told us that the oxygen masks may fall, and ‘not to panic’," she said.
“The next thing we knew we were told we were being diverted to Mackay.”
Mrs Hansen said the plane had been experiencing problems with the air conditioning shortly before the pilot announced an emergency landing was necessary.
“There was a problem with the air conditioning. We weren’t getting any fresh air through,” she said
“When it got hot and clammy we freaked out a bit… the increasing and decreasing of speed freaked us out a lot, as well as the plane rocking.”
Mrs Hansen praised the actions of one stewardesses, who tried to calm the nervous passengers.
“One of the stewardess said ‘it looks like everyone’s starting to freak out, and told us to calm down, saying that everything would be ok… she was really good.”
Mrs Hansen she has been on many flights and never experienced anything as terrifying.
“It was all really scary.”
Mrs Hansen was relieved when the plane touched down safely in Mackay, but was less than pleased with the customer service she experienced afterwards, which left about half of the plane’s estimated 80 passengers stranded.
“It was really stuffy and everyone came out with red faces.
“People with connecting Virgin flights got onboard another flight pretty quickly, while people with connecting flights with other companies were told they’d have to wait several hours for another flight.
“We were told not to expect to be back in Brisbane until 7pm.
“It has been really shocking service… they’ve not been nice to the affected passengers.”
The passengers were also outraged when told they would have to pay for another ticket.
“We were told we would have to pay for the later flight.”
Virgin Blue’s public relations manager Amanda Bolger said the Mackay diversion was precautionary, necessitated by a cockpit indicator.
It was too early to say what caused the indicator to go off, she said.
She said that an engineer is inspecting the plane, and once it has been checked passengers will be allowed back on it.
Passengers with connecting Virgin flights “received priority”, she said.
Passengers would not have to pay for an extra ticket, despite being instructed otherwise.
A spokesperson for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed they received a report of the flight being diverted to Mackay, but said they were not yet aware of the reason behind the diversion.