Flight to LA diverted to Alaska; Midair scare hits plane

CEBU, Philippines - The flight of an international passenger airline from Cebu for Los Angeles was diverted due to gradual depressurization and successfully landed in Anchorage, Alaska keeping all the passengers and the crew safe.

The Boeing 777-300ER has 288 passengers and 18 crew members on board.

 “According to the initial report, there was a slow drop in cab in pressure, most likely due to a valve malfunction. The Captain initiated a diversion to Anchorage and oxygen masks deployed in accordance with standard operating procedures. Cathay Pacific is conducting an internal investigation into the incident and initial notification has been sent to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department,” stated the airline’s press release sent to The FREEMAN.

Cathay Pacific Airways team in Anchorage provided assistance to the affected passengers, including hotel accommodation and meals.

The airline arranged an aircraft to bring the passengers to their destination.  It left Anchorage at 9:40 a.m. on November 16 (local time) and arrived at Los Angeles at 3:47 p.m. on November 16 (local time).

Delia Jurado was surprised the other day when she received a telephone call from her son, Joey Jurado, one of the passengers of the flight, and told her about what happened during his flight from Cebu to Los Angeles.

Delia said her son told her that they were getting ready to approach the West Coast when he heard of an explosion in the right wing of the plane.

Then, there was decompression in the plane and the oxygen masks were dropped.

“The plane lost cabin pressure and we dropped to 10,000 feet from 36,000 feet and the plane had to be diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, ” Joey said in an e-mail to his brother Mike that was forwarded to The FREEMAN.

Delia said her son saw the passengers panicked but he remained calm and even took photos of the incident.

Joey sent photos to his brother, Mike, showing a hole below the plane’s right wing as well as of passengers wearing oxygen masks.

Delia said his son commended the captain for landing them safely in Anchorage, the nearest airport when the incident happened. — /MBG (FREEMAN)