A United Airlines 737-800 traveling from Denver (DEN) to San Diego (SAN) diverted to Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT) after a “sudden and drastic loss of cabin pressure” according to a passenger onboard. Perhaps the bigger story, however, is not the diversion but how the crew stepped up to take care of passengers during what turned out to be an overnight delay.
United Flight Diverts In Grand Junction After Loss of Cabin Pressure
United flight 538 departed Denver at 7:47pm. Shortly after takeoff, the Boeing aircraft encountered a “cabin depressurization event” over the Rockies and quickly diverted to Grand Junction. Flight time was only 40 minutes. Passengers were terrified as oxygen masks dropped from overhead panels, but the flight crew did a fabulous job in quickly calming passengers according to C Boarding Group, who was on the flight.
By the time the aircraft landed, the cabin was (mostly) calm:
Landing pic.twitter.com/8TiS7OyQjl
— CBoardingGroup: Travel | Remote Work | Gear (@CBoardinggroup) April 29, 2021
— CBoardingGroup: Travel | Remote Work | Gear (@CBoardinggroup) April 29, 2021
Ground staff (and even café staff) were recalled to the airport and passengers were placed in hotels overnight.
So-called cabin depressurization events happen. Diversions happen all the time. But here’s what impressed me about this event:
And last night I saw the pilot pushing a passenger in a wheelchair, and the pilots were also asking passengers if they had rides to local hotels, apologizing for the hassle, etc. Classy stuff.
— CBoardingGroup: Travel | Remote Work | Gear (@CBoardinggroup) April 29, 2021
Not that we should expect anything less, but this is true professionalism…going above and beyond to make passengers feel safe and to help them in their time of need. This sort of ethic is precisely what is needed if United realistically hopes to be world’s number one airline (and well-maintained planes, of course…).
A rescue aircraft was dispatched and passengers continued to San Diego on Thursday morning:
The inaugural @united GJT to SAN flight 🤣 pic.twitter.com/CQ065EFNJT
— CBoardingGroup: Travel | Remote Work | Gear (@CBoardinggroup) April 29, 2021
CONCLUSION
A sudden and dramatic loss of cabin pressure is a scary thing, even for experienced flyers. The 737 safety landed and no passengers were injured, but the problem did not end there. United had to quickly determine how to handle a plane full of people in a small regional station. It sounds like United stepped up to take care of passengers in professional way, with pilots and flight attendants going above and everyone arriving safely in San Diego…a day late.
Were you onboard the United Airlines Grand Junction diversion? Please share your experience below.
image: Bill Abbott
So glad the crew stepped up. As most of us pilots know the movies and media makes the oxygen mask drop (the release of the rubber jungle ) scarier than the event really is. In MOsT cases loss of pressure is just that. Oxygen leaking out of the relief valve. The masks are there so you can breathe as we descend down to breathable air. There is usually 12 minutes of breathing time and the descent should take 5 minutes MAX to get to 10,000. Even in mountainous areas we have drift down alternates we can get to quickly and get to breathable air even if it’s not as low as 10,000 feet. The airplane is still flying !! Should be taken seriously but not in a panic and you should know your life is not in danger.
People love to hate United (maybe almost as much as Comcast?) but I’ve had nothing but great experiences. Sure, some of the more experienced flight attendants are a little more direct than the hokiness of Southwest but I’ve always found them to be professionals. I’m based in Chicago and Southwest, American, and United all fly to most of the domestic spots I’d want to visit – and I’m much closer to Midway – but prefer United.
They could have made it to Midway.
United would be lucky to be the no 1 airline in America, at least that goal is realistic. No 1 in the world??? That’s a joke.
World’s best is way too ephemeral. Perhaps they should define in which category they aim to be number 1. Small steps. Then defend that category as if they were Spartans. On to the next …
The rubber jungle alone is not a sudden and drastic loss of cabin pressure. That’s just when the cabin altitude hits a certain threshold. Sudden and drastic is when the air goes to mist as the water is sucked out of it and eardrums pop painfully, if not burst. If that hasn’t happened, grab some complementary in-flight 02 and relax.
Concurring with @ChiFlyer1979; after over a decade as AA ExPlat and experiencing a substantial deterioration in service I defected to UA. My experience as 1K is much better than ExPlat.