A Japan Airlines flight turned into a terrifying ordeal on June 30 when a Boeing 737 suddenly plunged nearly 26,000 feet in ten minutes after a loss of cabin pressure.
The aircraft, operating as JL8696 under Japan Airlines’ budget carrier Spring Japan, was en route from Shanghai to Tokyo with 191 people on board. Just after 6:50 PM, passengers reported hearing a muffled boom before oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Panic spread quickly.
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One passenger told the Associated Press that a flight attendant began crying and urgently instructed everyone to put on their masks.
Some passengers, fearing for their lives, wrote farewell messages, wills, and even shared banking information in case they did not survive. Others clung to their seats in silent shock.
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The pilot declared an emergency and diverted the aircraft to Osaka, where it landed safely at 8:50 PM. No injuries were reported, but passengers spent the night in hotels and were given 15,000 yen for transport. Japan’s aviation ministry confirmed the incident was caused by a pressurisation system failure.
This near-disaster is the latest in a growing list of safety concerns involving Boeing aircraft. The 737 model has been at the center of several recent incidents, including a deadly crash in South Korea last year and a mid-air scare involving Air India this June.
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While investigators now examine what went wrong, the passengers who lived through JL8696’s plunge are left with a haunting memory. For them, it was not just a mechanical failure. It was a confrontation with mortality, and a brutal reminder that air travel safety is still far from guaranteed.
