Delta flight suddenly drops to 9,000 feet after pressurisation system fails

A Delta Air Lines flight left Los Angeles Airport on Sunday (Sep 6), and just before it was to land at the Salt Lake City Airport, it rapidly dropped to 9,000 feet. Oxygen masks were released as the scary incident unfolded on the Boeing 737-900ER. Thankfully, the plane reached a safe altitude without any untoward incident on board. Reports suggest that the incident happened because of a cabin depressurisation event.

The pilots do not mention the emergency clearly to Air Traffic Control in the cockpit audio shared by Flight Drama on X. One passenger shared the experience on Reddit, saying it was a pressurisation system failure and "pretty traumatic." As the system failed, oxygen masks were automatically deployed. The pilots were forced to perform an emergency rapid descent to an altitude of about 9,000 to 10,000 feet where passengers could breathe naturally.

Plane diverted to Las Vegas airport

The aircraft was near the Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas at the time and the pilots declared an emergency and diverted towards it. The plane landed in Las Vegas without any problem. It remained there for some time where the minor valve or software issue responsible for the depressurisation was likely fixed. The same flight took off for Salt Lake City and landed safely later that evening.

Passengers complained of sudden ear pain and distress inside the plane as it descended sharply. They said that during the harrowing experience, when they were wearing the oxygen masks, they could barely hear the announcements from flight attendants.

This is the second time a depressurisation problem has occurred on a Delta flight this year. In January, an Airbus A319 rapidly descended from 36,000 feet to below 10,000 feet due to a slow pressure leak. However, the pilots were aware that a gradual loss was happening.