A SkyWest airlines flight while on its destination to Connecticut had to make an emergency landing in New York as three of the passengers on board lost consciousness on Wednesday causing the plane to divert.
The flight had departed from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport with 75 passengers on board. It had been on its destination to Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks before it had to make an emergency landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport at 11:40 a.m.
A spokeswoman from SkyWest at first said that a passenger in Flight 5622 operating under United Express, lost consciousness and therefore the pilots began descending “out of an abundance of caution.”
Although, later in a statement SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow said that the new information from medical personnel confirmed that “a total of three passengers reported a total loss of consciousness while on the flight.”
According to the flight tracking service FlightAware, the plane had made it’s descend at a very sharp incline for 8 straight minutes and dropping as fast as 7,000 feet per minute.
The St. George, Utah based SkyWest Inc. had earlier said that the jet had landed safely and a passenger received medical attention before being released. According to airport spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer, 15 more adults and 2 children had been evacuated upon landing although they did not require any medical assistance outside the airport.
Hartmayer said, “Anyone who said they didn’t feel well was treated at the gate.”
Snow wrote in an earlier emailed statement that, “There were no reports before the unconscious passenger prior to the initiated descent, but I can’t speak to what may have been the specific cause of their feeling ill.”
“The passengers were evaluated by medical responders on the ground in Buffalo and were released; none were transported to the hospital,” Snow said.
It had been informed by the Federal Aviation Administration that the jet may have had problem in pressurization, although that turned out to be erroneous.
Snow mentioned that the plane’s oxygen masks did not release. “After examination by maintenance personnel and local authorities, there have been no indications of a pressurization problem or other issues with the aircraft. Our investigation is ongoing,” stated Snow.
