PANIC erupted on a tourist flight as oxygen masks failed to release as the plane plunged around 25,000ft at “incredible speed”.
Passengers on board the Russia state-owned Rossiya Airlines plane said they felt like they were suffocating as the Boeing-737-800 made a “terrifying” ten-minute emergency descent.
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The flight was almost at the end of its five-and-a-half-hour journey from Sochi with 167 passengers on board – including 21 kids – when it was forced to quickly land.
Some oxygen masks failed to drop during severe cabin depressurisation as the plane rapidly plunged around 25,000ft.
Terrified passengers claimed the plane went “icy cold” during the frantic descent.
A baby was heard crying in a video as the emergency landing unfolded.
Five people had to be treated by medics on the ground following “a sharp drop in pressure on board”.
The plane, also carrying eight crew members, landed safely in Krasnoyarsk, a major city in Siberia.
A criminal investigation has been launched into the case, however.
Passenger Andrey Saltanov said: “This is how we arrived in Krasnoyarsk. Cabin depressurisation, and emergency descent.
“My ears nearly popped. The plane turned out to be ancient.
“The masks of the passengers next to me didn’t even fall down.
“So much for Aeroflot. Thank God we landed.”
Rossiya Airlines is part of the Aeroflot state airline group.
Another passenger named Yulia said she felt she was suffocating and penned a goodbye message to her husband.
She said: “At 7:05, I woke up because my ears were very sore.
“I opened my eyes, and the lights were already flickering, oxygen masks fell out, and there was panic on the plane.
“The plane seemed to be falling, and we flew down at incredible speed towards the ground. It was scary.”
Yulia claimed the crew have no announcement and “didn’t understand” what was happening.
She added: “I buckled up, and after that, I put on an oxygen mask”
“There was not enough oxygen. I was already starting to suffocate.
“Maybe it was a panic attack because I was very scared. And I could not breathe normally.
“I took an oxygen mask, started breathing, and did not understand what was happening.
“I looked out the window. We were moving rapidly towards the ground, and my ears still hurt.
“I already started to say goodbye to my husband, wrote him a message, and sent a photo.
“Then the fall stopped, the plane began to fly smoothly, and they announced that we had completed an emergency descent.”
She told how doctors met the plane to treat passengers.
Another passenger said: “It suddenly became icy cold in the cabin, the masks fell down then for about ten minutes, there was a deathly silence and a sharp decline.
“It was difficult to breathe without masks. The feelings were indescribable.”
TASS state news agency said: “Three minutes before the start of the descent, an abnormal operation of the cabin pressure control sensor occurred and the crew decided to release the oxygen masks in the cabin.”
The Investigative Committee said: “An inspection of the scene was carried out by air investigators, and all the circumstances and causes of the incident are being established.
“A procedural decision will be made based on the results of the investigation.”
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Katie Davis
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