BREAKING: 76 Passengers on Delta Flight from Austin to LA in Peril

in News / by Shae Weatherall / on September 10, 2014 at 8:10 pm /

Breaking news from a local station is reporting a Delta passenger flight leaving Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA), bound for Los Angeles, California, has reported a loss of cabin pressure, only 20 minutes into the journey.
The flight is carrying 76 people as well as over 14,000 gallons of fuel.
At the time of this report, there is no sign of the status of the plane and its occupants, except that it is expected to make an emergency landing.
Updates to follow as soon as they are available.
It appears today is not a day for flying the friendly skies.  Earlier, another smaller, privately owned aircraft was reported to have crashed near ABIA after leaving from Dallas Executive Airport resulting in one death.
UPDATE:

The Delta flight 5733 operated by Compass Airlines has landed safely! After spending 1 hour and 14 minutes in the air, circling the Austin area in order to burn fuel in case of a crash landing, the aircraft and her 76 passengers are safe on the ground.

I’m sure there are some very shaken up people who are grateful that their prayers were answered and that the pilots had the skill to deal with a crisis such as this with level heads and steady hands.

Considering that there was also a fatal private aircraft crash of a flight coming in to Austin from Dallas just hours before this incident, I predict many vacant seats for flights arriving and departing from Austin-Bergstrom and most other major airports tomorrow, on the anniversary of 9/11.
At this point there is no indication of what may have caused the malfunction on the Delta flight leaving Austin today. We will report any updates as we receive them.