Plane carrying 191 people falls freely at 11,000m altitude, passengers write suicide note

(Dan Tri) - A plane carrying 191 passengers on a journey from China to Japan suddenly lost more than 7,000m in altitude in 10 minutes, causing oxygen masks to open.

According to Global Times , the incident occurred on flight JL8696/IJ004 (a codeshare between Japan Airlines and low-cost airline Spring Airlines Japan) from Shanghai (China) to Narita (Japan) on the evening of June 30.

Silence in the passenger cabin when the plane crashed at an altitude of 11,000m ( Video : @billionspwq).

At that time, the plane was on its way when an unusual warning about the pressurization system (the part that maintains pressure in the passenger cabin) was activated, causing the pilot to suspect a decrease in pressure and immediately send an emergency signal to air traffic control.

The Boeing 737-800 suddenly lost altitude continuously, forcing the pilot to change direction and make an emergency landing at Kansai airport (Osaka, Japan).

Essential Japan newspaper quoted the Osaka Aviation Administration as saying that all 191 passengers and crew were not injured or had any health problems.

According to Jimu News , flight tracking data shows that the plane suddenly dropped from 11,000m to about 3,200m in just 10 minutes.

Radar data of the plane (Photo: Jimu News).

“At first I didn’t realize how serious the situation was until I saw the flight attendants looking like they were about to cry,” said an anonymous passenger. “The oxygen masks came down, everyone put them on quietly, and the cabin was eerily quiet.”

Another passenger said: “I felt the plane dive, the fuselage of the plane tilted downwards. I was so scared that I wrote a last letter, telling my husband to take care of my mother, and then revealed all my insurance passwords and bank cards.”

After the incident, the airline supported each passenger with 15,000 yen (about 3 million VND) for travel expenses and provided overnight accommodation.

According to China Travel News , flight IJ004 is one of the busiest international routes between China and Japan, with more than 20 round trips per day.

The plane that crashed was 7.2 years old and had made 28 flights in the last 30 days.

The 737-800 remains the most popular model in the Boeing 737 family, with more than 5,000 in service globally – mainly with low-cost airlines – but in recent years the aircraft has been dogged by safety concerns.

Previously, many other airlines had recorded incidents of loss of cockpit pressure, forcing the plane to urgently reduce altitude.

Jimu News quoted a veteran captain as saying that at a cruising altitude of 9,000-12,000m, the air is very thin and cold, requiring a pressurization system to maintain the appropriate pressure and temperature in the cabin. If this system fails, the plane must immediately descend to about 3,000m - a level where normal breathing can be maintained without oxygen masks.

Normally, the backup oxygen system on an aircraft only provides enough for 15-22 minutes, the maximum time for the pilot to bring the plane down to a safe altitude.

Spring Airlines' website announced on July 1 that it had canceled many Spring Japan flights due to "coordination of operational capacity."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/may-bay-cho-191-nguoi-roi-tu-do-o-do-cao-11000m-hanh-khach-viet-di-thu-20250701201138469.htm