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Plane Carrying Congressmen Makes Emergency Landing
July 22, 2008 6:19 PM
A plane carrying seven members of Congress en route from Houston to Washington, D.C. made an emergency landing Tuesday.
The lawmakers have since landed safely after being diverted to New Orleans and are now working to board other flights back to Washington.
According to the carrier, Continental airlines, the Boeing 737-700 was virtually full and carrying 118 passengers plus crew when it suffered a loss of cabin pressure and masks deployed. As a result, the pilot put the plane into a very steep dive, according to a spokesperson for Texas Republican congressman Ted Poe, who was onboard.
Republican primary candidate Ron Paul of Texas was also one of the congressmen aboard the flight. According to spokesman Jesse Benton, Paul is fine and "it was more of an inconvenience than anything else."
Mechanics are now trying to determine why the plane lost cabin pressure.
The lawmakers were returning from a routine visit to their districts, trying to get back for a vote tonight.
-ABC News' Gina Sunseri, Lisa Stark and Z. Byron Wolf
July 22, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (10)
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Good to here everyone is safe.
Posted by: Ben Straub | Jul 22, 2008 6:37:06 PM
Yeah, it's great. Of course, had the plane been carrying a bunch of regular people, nobody would care.
Posted by: Hosfac | Jul 22, 2008 10:17:10 PM
118 plus a crew is more than a couple of pols. I have never read such nasty posts.
Glad they landed safely, no one got hurt and now everyone can go on with their trip, although it was a huge delay.
Posted by: W. Orrin Eldred | Jul 22, 2008 10:34:48 PM
I bet they'll remember to take their diapers with them next time.
Posted by: BTL musings | Jul 22, 2008 10:38:41 PM
Maybe it was the republican party trying to get back at Ron Paul.
Posted by: mike raquertz | Jul 22, 2008 10:43:58 PM
The pols used all of the air because its free.
Posted by: minift | Jul 22, 2008 10:44:30 PM
Whats really ironic is the bill they were heading to vote on that night:
H.R.6493- Aviation Safety Enhancement Act of 2008
Posted by: Bob Z | Jul 23, 2008 1:27:05 AM
What made it necessary for the pilot to make the descent so steep?? This happened on a Continental flight I was on one time, only the O2 masks were never deployed and they probably should have been...or if they were I don't remember because my bottomed out and I had to be medicinally revived. Upon landing, my clothes were completely drenched. If anyone knows about what made it necessary for the steep landing I'd appreciate any input. In my case the airline had me settle with a signed document that they prepared. I hope that if this issue occurs often that it's followed up on. It doesn't sound too safe, does it?
Posted by: Elizabeth Ciccantelli | Jul 23, 2008 2:08:51 AM
"Losing the cabin" is a serious deal, and the biggest reason to descend rapidly is to get to an altitude where there is some oxygen. Airlines routinely fly above 30,000 feet but there's not enough oxygen for passengers to breath on above 14,000 feet. Pilots want to get down closer to 10,000 feet --and as rapidly as is safely possible. Exactly how they do this depends on how high they start from, what kind of plane it is, and what caused the decompression.
Posted by: LlanoEscatado | Jul 23, 2008 4:18:19 AM
What were they thinking? Seven congress persons should not be on the same flight in case it goes down. Three different flights should have been the order of the day. Even a large family should not be on the same flight to ensure survival of some family members.
Posted by: Lawrence | Jul 23, 2008 4:34:11 AM
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