Cabin pressure issues force emergency landing

Flight was second unexpected stop for U.S. jets in two days

A United Express flight from Charlotte to Chicago made an emergency landing in Indianapolis on Sunday after a problem with cabin pressure caused the pilot to descend to 10,000 feet, an ExpressJet spokesman said.

The emergency landing of the Embraer 145 was the second by a U.S. commercial jet in less than two days.

Spokesman Jarek Beem told USA TODAY the pilot of United Express Flight 5919 followed procedure, but some people complained of headaches and ear problems. Medical responders treated passengers after the plane landed at about 8:30 a.m., and no one was hospitalized, Beem said.

ExpressJet operates the flight for United Express. Beem said ExpressJet officials ultimately determined that it would be faster to bus the 50 passengers from Indianapolis to Chicago — about three hours — rather than wait to fix the plane or make other arrangements.

Initial reports from Indianapolis International Airport indicated the flight, which left Charlotte at 6:50 a.m. Sunday, had experienced a sharp, unexpected loss of altitude. Beem said that was incorrect.

The incident took place less than two days after a Salt Lake City-bound flight from Boston flew into a storm and was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver. Delta Air Lines Flight 1889 landed safely at Denver In- ternational Airport after encountering lightning and hail so heavy the windshield on the Airbus A320 was cracked and nose cone damaged.

“This was the scariest 10 min- utes of my life,” passenger Robin Jones told KTSU-TV after arriving at the Salt Lake International Airport on Saturday. “I thought, ‘OK. Have I told everybody that I love that I love them?’ And as soon as I realized I had done that, I was like, ‘I’m all right. Everything ’s going to be OK.’ ”

“This was the scariest 10 minutes of my life. I thought, ‘OK. Have I told everyone that I love that I love them?’ ” Robin Jones, a passenger on the flight that made an emergency landing in Denver, told KTSU-TV after arriving at the Salt Lake International Airport on Saturday

BEAU SORENSEN, AP Hail damaged the nose cone and windshield of the Airbus A320 that was caught in a storm Friday on its way to Salt Lake City. The flight made an emergency landing in Denver.