Passengers on board a Spirit Airlines flight from Jamaica to Florida had a terrifying experience when they were told to prepare for an emergency water landing.
Flight NK270 was forced to return to its original destination, Montego Bay, shortly after takeoff on Saturday following a “suspected mechanical failure,” according to CBS News.
Video from the cabin shows some of the more than 200 passengers wearing life jackets amid the chaos.
However, the Airbus A321 landed safely back at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and guests were able to disembark as normal.
Spirit added that the “mechanical issue did not affect the safety of the flight” and the emergency landing instructions were issued “out of an abundance of caution.”
Flight NK270 was forced to return to its original destination, Montego Bay, shortly after take-off on Saturday following a “suspected mechanical fault”
Spirit added that the “mechanical issue did not affect the safety of the flight” and the emergency landing instructions were issued “out of an abundance of caution”
Passengers received a $50 credit and boarded a new flight to Fort Lauderdale, arriving only 45 minutes late.
Andrene Gordon spoke of the terrifying ordeal with the Jamaican outlet The Gleaner, calling it a “near death experience” that began with a “bleep”.
“At first I thought, maybe it’s because it’s a new plane,” Gordon said.
“We were there for about 25 minutes, but the plane never got high… . The pilot said there was a small problem, nothing major, “so we’ll just turn around and go to the airport.”
“We never know we’ll actually get to the ground because all we could see was literally water … it was total chaos,” Gordon added.
“Flight attendants, I know they’re trained, but they’re human. They got scared, everyone was scared.’
Gordon also said the $50 credit is like a ‘slap in the face.’
“After this near-death experience and emotional distress, Spirit wants to offer a $50 credit that can be used until August of this year,” Gordon told the Gleaner.
“I feel like it’s a slap in the face because they put us through such a traumatic experience with an incompetent crew. This is simply unacceptable.’
Spirit apologized to guests “for any inconvenience.”
TikTok user Tina Marie shared footage from the plane cabin on Saturday
Passengers received a $50 credit and boarded a new flight to Fort Lauderdale, arriving just 45 minutes behind schedule
Just one day after the Spirit scare, a United Airlines flight aborted takeoff after the plane’s engine caught fire on a taxiway at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
Seattle-bound United Flight 2091, with 148 passengers and five crew members on board, was grounded around 2 p.m. Monday, according to the FAA.
The video showed plumes of black smoke rising from the wing of the Airbus A320.
Ground crew and emergency personnel “immediately responded” and the plane was towed to the gate, where passengers disembarked, NBC Chicago reported.
Meanwhile, all flights were grounded at New York’s JFK airport on Monday – an event attributed to ongoing thunderstorms seen across much of the US, the FAA said.
The travel chaos comes as citizens in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee were hit by a slew of twisters, high winds and flooding over the Memorial Day Weekend that has left at least 21 dead so far.
According to FlightAware, at least 6,837 within, to or from the United States have been delayed and 516 canceled.
Memorial Day weekend kicked off what was predicted to be a busy summer travel season
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2.95 million airline passengers on Friday, the highest number ever in a single day.