Passenger on BA flight that plunged 27,000ft describes the eerie moment in ‘silent’ cabin

A passenger who was aboard the London to Chicago BA flight that declared an emergency after dramatically losing altitude mid-flight has spoken out about what it was like.

On Monday (October 5th), a “technical issue” caused the British Airways aircraft to drop 27,000ft in just minutes, and declare an emergency, before it returned to London.

Scott Tanner, 39, was a passenger on the plane when it began descending “noticeably” and they were told to put on oxygen masks. He said the cabin fell eerily “silent” as it happened. 

Flight BA295 had reached a cruising altitude of 37,000ft before the mid-air emergency. Flight tracking data showed the aircraft dropped sharply down to 9,000ft.

via Scott Tanner / SWNS

Scott said their was “silence” for ten minutes, before the passengers were told they could deploy their oxygen masks, and they headed back to London after five hours in the air.

He told Talk to the Press: “About an hour into the flight I was listening to an audiobook when, completely without warning, the oxygen masks suddenly dropped throughout the cabin. An automated announcement instructed everyone to put on their masks immediately.

“For around 10 minutes afterwards there was no further information from the flight deck. There was simply silence apart from the automated announcement repeating on a loop, which was probably the most disconcerting part. Despite this, everyone remained remarkably calm. I did not hear a single scream.

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“We could feel the aircraft descending quite noticeably, although it felt controlled rather than like a plunge. The captain then told us that we were below 10,000 feet and could remove our masks.

“He later explained that we would be returning to Heathrow, but because the aircraft was carrying fuel for the transatlantic journey we would need to circle for several hours to burn it off. We eventually landed safely after about five hours in the air.”

via Scott Tanner / SWNS

According to The Guardian, flight-tracking services showed the aircraft flying in a looping holding pattern over the Bristol Channel between Pembrokeshire and North Devon, as the plane burnt off fuel in order to lower its weight. This allowed the pilots to make a normal landing just after 5pm.

Scott explained BA then provided passengers with hotel accommodation. A spokesperson from British Airways said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and the aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue.

“Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”

For more, like The Tab on Facebook. Featured image via Scott Tanner / SWNS.