An American Airlines flight recently dropped 15,000 feet in mere three minutes, creating panic inside the cabin of the aircraft. The flight was en route Gainesville from Charlotte, North Carolina in the US when it encountered a possible pressurisation issue, which left passengers “terrified”, media reports said. Dropping 15,000 feet in 3 minutes is an unusually fast pace of descent for any aircraft and as per flight records, the biggest drop happened about 42 minutes after the plane was in flight and lasted six minutes.

The records further stated that the flight descended a total of 18,600 feet, more than half the flying altitude of the flight, which is usually between 30,000 to 33,000 feet above the sea above. The crew of the Florida bound flight reported a possible pressurisation issue, Fox 35 News quoted Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson as saying.

University of Florida professor Harrison Hove, who was onboard the plane, took to the social media to share harrowing experience. Sharing photos on X, he said: “I’ve flown a lot. This was scary.” In the photos oxygen masks are seen hanging in the plane with many passengers, including him, trying to breathe with its help, reported IANS.

“Kudos to our amazing flight crew-cabin staff and pilots on American Air 5916. The photos cannot capture the burning smell, loud bang or ear pops,” the caption read. He praised flight crew and pilots, saying they kept the passengers “informed and calm.”

“Something failed midflight and depressurised the cabin. The burning smell can apparently be attributed to using the oxygen canisters. The wing flaps came out to immediately lower our altitude so there would be more oxygen. It was terrifying but turned out ok.”