Plane heading for London drops 20,000 feet in SECONDS

United Airline flight to Heathrow forced to make emergency diversion to Canada
16 July 2012

A London-bound plane had to make an emergency diversion to Canada while halfway across the Atlantic today, with terrified passengers saying it suddenly “dipped like a ferry” in midair.

A British woman on the United Airlines flight from Washington DC described how airline cabin crew were running in the aisles as the Boeing 757 went from 40,000 feet to 20,000 feet in a matter of seconds.

The packed fiight, which had set off from the city last night for Heathrow Airport, turned round and flew two hours back west before landing safely this morning at St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada.

Lizzie Laming, 22, from Sittingbourne, Kent, had been returning from a post-university holiday with her friend Ellie Cauldwell, also 22, from Bristol, when the plane suddenly began losing height.

She said: “The plane dropped and it felt like being on a ferry when it goes up and down.

“Most of the cabin crew were running up the aisles and we were not told anything for a while. We could tell from the on-screen maps that we had lost height - from around 40,000ft to 20,000ft - and that we had turned round.

“We gathered there was something wrong with one of the engines.”

The friends who both attended Exeter University, were on a travel tour which included the US, having just completed their degree courses.

They were put on a flight from St John’s to Newark, New Jersey, US, and were being flown back to London from there.

A United Airlines spokesman in London said today: “UA130, a Boeing 757-200 which departed Washington Dulles airport at 7.06pm on Sunday to Heathrow was diverted to St John’s, Newfoundland and landed safely at 2.55am today. We are re-accommodating customers on alternative flights.”

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