American Airlines plane en route to Florida crashes 15,000 feet in 3 minutes: ‘It was terrifying’

According to flight records, an American Airlines plane en route to Florida crashed over 15,000 feet in three minutes.

American Airlines Flight 5916 departed from Charlotte, North Carolina Thursday and was en route to Gainesville, Fla., when crew members on the plane reported a possible pressure problem, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said FOX 35.

The plane landed at Gainesville Regional Airport just before 5 p.m

A passenger, Professor Harrison Hove from the University of Florida, wrote on social media that the incident was “terrifying”.

“I’ve flown a lot. That was scary,” Hove said. “Kudos to our amazing flight crew, cabin crew and pilots on American Air 5916.

The photos cannot capture the burning smell, the loud bang or the popping in the ears.”

FlightAware data shows the flight plummeted nearly 20,000 feet in 11 minutes.

43 minutes into the flight, the plane descended 18,600 feet in six minutes.

“Something went wrong in the middle of the flight and the pressure in the cabin dropped,” said Hove wrote on Xformerly known as Twitter.

“The smell of burning is apparently due to the use of the oxygen canisters. The wing flaps extended to immediately lower our altitude so there was more oxygen. It was scary, but everything was fine in the end.”

In a statement, an American Airlines spokesman told FOX Business that the sudden drop in altitude was due to an issue with the pressure.

“American Eagle Flight 5916, operated by Piedmont Airlines, from Charlotte (CLT) to Gainesville, Fla. (GNV) landed safely at GNV on Thursday, August 10th. During the flight, the crew received an indication of a possible pressure problem and immediately and safely descended to a lower altitude. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and thank our team for their professionalism,” the spokesman said.