Shanghai-Tokyo Boeing plummets 26,000 feet, panicked passengers write goodbye letters and wills

Panic ensued on a Japan Airlines Boeing 737 on Monday when the plane suddenly plummeted nearly 26,000 feet. The scary episode apparently led passengers to write goodbye letters to loved ones and details of their finances, fearing they would not survive. People on the plane recalled that there was a boom, and after that, oxygen masks fell off within a few seconds. The flight attendants started shouting, asking everyone to put on their oxygen masks. The incident comes after 241 people died in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, which involved a Boeing Dreamliner 787.

According to local reports, flight JL8696, travelling from Shanghai Pudong Airport in China to Tokyo’s Narita Airport, experienced a serious mechanical failure mid-air. This led the plane to descend from 36,000 feet to just over 10,000 feet in under ten minutes. The captain declared an emergency, after which the flight was diverted to the nearest airport, the International Airport in Osaka. The plane landed safely at 8:50 pm local time. The incident left the 191 passengers and crew on board terrified, but thankfully, all of them escaped without injuries.

Also Read: Just hours after deadly Ahmedabad plane crash, another Air India flight dropped 900 feet during takeoff

Passengers were asleep, some couldn't breathe

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a statement on the mid-air incident. Passengers were asleep on the plane when the plane's sudden movement woke them up. It said that the aircraft’s pressurisation system triggered an emergency alert after the plane dropped several feet. Oxygen masks immediately dropped, and it was chaos on the plane. Some people were unable to breathe, and the crew feared they could pass out.

A passenger told The People, “I heard a muffled boom, and the oxygen mask fell off in a few seconds. The stewardess cried and shouted to put on the oxygen mask, saying the plane had a malfunction." Another passenger said that some people started writing wills, their financial details and goodbye letters, fearing death. The incident led Japan Airlines to offer passengers ¥15,000 ($93) and a place to stay overnight. Relevant authorities have initiated an investigation into the malfunction.