FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - A flight from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was diverted, Friday morning, after strong turbulence caused the oxygen masks to be deployed.
Spirit Airlines Flight 417 was supposed to land at FLL at around 9:30 a.m., but wound up landing closer to 2:30 p.m. The flight was forced to return to Detroit after originally taking off at around 6:30 a.m.
Passengers said it started with turbulence, then 30 minutes later the oxygen masks dropped.
“Everything seemed all right at first,” one passenger said, “but then once we got up into the air, the turbulence and the air pockets was terrible. I mean, it was bouncing the plane around.”
When the masks dropped, the captain spoke to passengers.
“He told us to put our masks over our face and how to breathe,” Kemberlee Prince said. “And then it got real shaky.”
“Everyone was like, ‘Is this real? “‘Is this happening'” another passenger said.
“That was the worst. That was the worst feeling of my life,” Beta Salha said.
The passengers boarded another plane and arrived at FLL hours later than planned.
“We have a cruise that leaves in an hour from Miami,” Krista Johnson said. “Our transfer is gone; we have to get a taxi. We might not be able to make our boat.”
Spirit Airlines released a statement that said, “Mechanics will conduct a full inspection of the plane to determine what caused the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience and we’ll be issuing future flight credits to all impacted customers.”
Spirit Airlines said they did all they could to help passengers make their next flights.
“All I said to God, ‘Please take me away, but do not take my kids,” Salha said. “That’s all I was thinking about.”
No one was hurt.
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