PENSACOLA, Fla. — Passengers recounted terrifying moments on a Delta flight, traveling from Atlanta to Pensacola Monday afternoon.
The plane was forced to turn around when smoke started to fill the cabin. Apparently, it was due to an engine going out.
Passenger Joseph Marietta says the plane took off just after 1 p.m. ET. He was coming home to Pensacola after a fishing trip in Michigan. He had a stopover in Atlanta.
Marietta said the smoke started about close to 20 minutes after take-off.
“I had already gone to sleep, I was woken up by a loud pop,” Marietta said. “When I woke up the cabin was filling with smoke.”
At that point, he says he felt the plane turning around. Marietta says, that’s when the captain told everyone on board the left engine went out.
“Attendants were telling people to remain calm,” he said. “They were passing out wet wipes to put over your mouth from inhaling smoke. They told everyone to put your head down and get better airflow down low.”
Marietta praised their flight crew for keeping everyone calm during the entire situation.
“After the pilot explained what was going on, you get to a point where it’s like, ‘We’re 30,000 feet in the air and I have no control of what’s going on,'” Marietta said. “And I just got to sit back, let the professionals do their job and hope everything will be alright.”
Emergency crews were waiting for the plane as it landed in Atlanta.
Marietta says Delta quickly got the passengers on another plane about an hour of landing.
Delta has apologized to passengers. The airline gave Marietta a $100 voucher as a sign of good will.
ABC Wear 3