United Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Evacuation Slide Accidentally Deploys Midair
United Airlines flight 1463 was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday night after an evacuation slide accidentally deployed midair. The whole ordeal unfolded on Twitter when two passengers began tweeting images and details of the mishap.
See the series of events unfold through twitter below:
Scariest Flight of all time #EmergencyLanding pic.twitter.com/yj5KH9bvDp — Taylor Martinez (@TMAG1C) June 30, 2014
Thankful to be safe and landed on the ground little girl in front of me is a trooper. pic.twitter.com/pXQXZIl1Ag — Kelsey Robinson (@Krobin32) June 30, 2014
Thankful to be safe @united pic.twitter.com/47AkOhczNJ — Taylor Martinez (@TMAG1C) June 30, 2014
Look how happy Nebraska football star @TMAG1C is happy to be safely on the ground. Football star on board pic.twitter.com/OMnbpTSkWx — Hannah VanHuss Davis (@KWCHHannah) June 30, 2014
United flight to SNA makes emergency landing after slide deploys http://t.co/q6nuabZnuz Tops my list of crazy flights pic.twitter.com/Ta9G8CpxUs — Jeremy S. Summers (@DrSummersDC_ATC) June 30, 2014
Just emergency landed in Wichita after the emergency evacuation slide deployed in flight. Never a dull time flying with @united — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
Comment from the ground crew: “holy smokes!” At least no one was hurt. — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
Gentlemen in shiny metallic suits checking out the @united plane. pic.twitter.com/doO1vKi8OD — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
Explanation from @united : “accidents do happen” — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
Flying out of Wichita at 915am tomorrow. Thanks for getting us out early @united — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
According to the NY Daily News, the Boeing 737 was carrying 96 passengers and five crew members. Though no one was injured, it does appear there was a lot of action happening on the plane and a little bit of panic. One passenger, Diane Mondini, told KWCH, “You heard a big bang and a hiss. And they just had a panicked look.“
Another passenger, Mike Schroeder, seemed dumbfounded by the incident, stating:
“We’ve been flying for years, I’ve never seen this before.”
Crew that were interviewed also stated this was a first for them as well. All the passengers were placed in a hotel courtesy of United and scheduled for flights Monday morning. However, it appears things are not improving for those on the diverted United flight.
@united is keeping the magic going. Our departure from #Wichita is now 2 hours delayed. Toto, we’re still in Kansas… — Sara Schroeder (@schroe59) June 30, 2014
A spokesman with the FAA tells Eyewitness News an emergency evacuation slide inadvertently deployed in mid-flight. Initial reports that a passenger opened a door during the flight were false. The FAA spokesman said, “It is impossible to open a door at that altitude.”
According to Flight Aware, the plane was flying at 38,000 feet when the incident occurred. Looking at the data, you can see that in just 12 minutes from the incident, the plane had dropped to 11,000 feet due to a loss in cabin pressure. Check out the data below and see the altitude drop before the emergency landing.
