In the videos that went viral on social media, passengers were seen wearing oxygen masks. (Image: X)
A Spring Airlines flight from Shanghai to Tokyo was forced to make an emergency landing at Kansai Airport after a sudden loss of cabin pressure triggered a rapid descent from 36,000 feet to just under 10,500 feet in ten minutes, according to South China Morning Post.
The incident occurred on June 30, when Flight JL8696 was cruising over Japan. A pressurisation warning suddenly lit up, and the aircraft plunged nearly 26,000 feet within minutes. Oxygen masks dropped, and the crew had to declare an emergency.
The Boeing 737 was then diverted to Kansai Airport in Osaka, landing safely with 191 onboard. Though the flight carried a Japan Airlines code, the aircraft reportedly belonged to Spring Airlines Japan, a JAL-affiliated low-cost carrier.
Passengers write down will, draft final goodbyes mid-air
One shaken passenger recalled seeing a flight attendant in tears, urgently instructing everyone to put on their oxygen masks while shouting that the plane had suffered a malfunction.
“My body is still here, but my soul hasn’t caught up. My legs are still shaking. When you face life or death, everything else feels trivial,” one passenger wrote, as per SCMP.
Several passengers reportedly began preparing for the worst—one even wrote down their will, insurance details, and bank PINs, while another started drafting a final message to her husband.
Another passenger described the descent as abrupt and extreme. “The plane started plummeting violently at around 7 pm and dropped to 3,000 metres in just 20 minutes,” they said.
According to an Associated Press report, passengers onboard were worried that the aircraft would crash. The airline provided 15,000 yen (about $104) and a night’s lodging as compensation for the incident. The incident is being probed.
(With agency inputs)
AloJapan.com