The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said oxygen masks deployed aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Nassau on Friday after the aircraft began descending about 20 minutes into the journey and was forced to return to Atlanta.

Mr Mitchell recounted the incident in a Facebook post after Delta Flight 1938, which had been scheduled to arrive in Nassau at about 2pm, returned safely to Atlanta.

“About 20 minutes in I felt the plane descend,” Mr Mitchell said. “Next thing the masks deploy and the pilot comes in says we must put the masks on and breathe we were going to ten thousand feet and return to Atlanta.”

The minister said he and the other passengers were safe following the incident.

The Bahamas’ Ambassador to Qatar, Tony Joudi, was also aboard the aircraft.

Federal Aviation Administration guidance identifies supplemental oxygen and a descent towards 10,000 feet as measures used in response to cabin pressurisation problems at altitude, where reduced oxygen can pose a danger to passengers and crew.

Passenger oxygen systems are designed to make oxygen available when cabin altitude rises beyond prescribed limits, although masks may also be deployed manually by the flight crew. FAA certification guidance provides for automatic deployment before cabin altitude exceeds 15,000 feet.

However, neither Mr Mitchell’s account nor the information available to The Tribune established what caused the incident or whether the aircraft suffered a loss of cabin pressure.

After returning to Atlanta, passengers were told they would be placed on another aircraft and could expect to depart again in about an hour.

Mr Mitchell later told The Tribune that Delta issued passengers a $12 voucher and that another flight was scheduled to leave at 3.10pm.