Terrifying moment packed passenger jet falls 18,000 FEET – before making an emergency landing

A packed tourist plane was involved in a terrifying drama this week when it plummeted some 18,000 feet before making an emergency landing in Crete, with one passenger claiming on social media afterwards that they ‘nearly crashed’.

Panicking passengers claimed the aircraft’s engines had stalled, leading to the rapid loss of altitude, but it was reported later that the crew had initiated an emergency descent due to a problem with cabin pressure.

The Nordwind Airbus A321-200, which was travelling from Greece to St.Petersburg, had climbed to 25,000 feet when the problem arose.

Then, the aircraft fell to 7,000 feet over the Mediterranean before returning to Greece’s Heraklion Airport some 40 minutes after departure.

The incident follows severe turbulence on an Aeroflot flight, this week, when two dozen passengers suffered injuries including broken bones after being ‘spun around like in a washing machine’ as a Boeing 777 was preparing to land in Bangkok.

A shaken passenger on the Nordwind plane, bound for St Petersburg, wrote on social media: ‘Friends, we nearly crashed. To be more precise, we fell about three kilometres.’

In fact, The Aviation Herald reported an 18,000 ft drop – almost 5km – and passengers said that despite reported cabin pressure problems, oxygen masks were not released…

MORE: Terrifying moment Nordwind Airbus jet falls 18,000 feet | Daily Mail Online