Flight In US Dropped 28,000 Feet In 10 Minutes, Then Reverses Course

A United Airlines flight plunged 28,000 feet in 10 minutes and changed course to go back to New Jersey, according to a report in New York Post. Flight 510 was on its way from Newark to Rome on Wednesday when it experienced an issue with cabin pressure. A United spokesperson told the Post that there were 270 passengers and 14 crew members in the Boeing 777 plane. This comes months after another United Airlines flight suddenly dropped the altitude shortly after take-off from Maui.

Citing FlightAware data, New York Post said in its report that the Newark to Rome flight took off from Newark Liberty International Airport at 8:37 pm (local time) and landed back at the airport at 12:27 am.

The airline issued a statement in which it said the plane returned to Newark "to address a possible loss of cabin pressure".

"The flight landed safely and there was never any loss of cabin pressure," the airlines' spokesperson further said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also acknowledged the "pressurisation issue", adding that it caused the pilot to reverse course.

But by the time the switch-up happened, the plane fell some 28,000 feet in just 10 minutes.

The passengers were accommodated in another aircraft and reached their destination, United Airlines said.

In December last year, Flight UA1722 of United Airlines took off from Maui's Kahului Airport, bound for San Francisco, when it got into trouble at just 2,200 feet.

The Independent said that after reaching that altitude, the Boeing 777-200 took a deep dive at a speed of 8,600 feet per minute, descending to just 775 feet above sea level.