CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A SkyWest airlines flight to Connecticut was diverted, descended steeply and made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after a passenger lost consciousness. ADVERTISING CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A SkyWest airlines flight to Connecticut was diverted,
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A SkyWest airlines flight to Connecticut was diverted, descended steeply and made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after a passenger lost consciousness.
The flight, carrying 75 passengers, departed from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and had been bound for Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. It landed at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Buffalo at about 11:40 a.m.
A SkyWest spokeswoman said one passenger aboard Flight 5622, operating as United Express, lost consciousness and the pilots rapidly descended “out of an abundance of caution.”
For nearly eight minutes, the plane descended at a very steep incline, dropping as fast as 7,000 feet per minute, flight tracking service FlightAware said.
SkyWest Inc., which is based in St. George, Utah, said the jet landed safely and the passenger received medical attention before being released.
An additional 15 adults and two children were evaluated upon landing, but none required treatment outside the airport, airport spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer said.
“Anyone who said they didn’t feel well was treated at the gate,” he said.
SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow said in an email: “There were no reports before the unconscious passenger prior to the initiated descent, but I can’t speak to what may have been the specific cause of their feeling ill.”
The airline said it was making plans to transport the passengers to Hartford, Connecticut.
The Federal Aviation Administration said initial information indicated the Embraer E170 jet may have had a pressurization problem, but that turned out to be incorrect.
Snow said the plane’s oxygen masks did not release.
