Dallas Doctor Recalls American Flight Tearing Apart Mid-Air
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A North Texas eye doctor is recalling his scary trip on an American Airlines plane. He left San Francisco for DFW Airport Monday on a bumpy flight, and then panels started breaking away from the plane.
"Immediately on takeoff we heard kind of a rush of air, then after we were airborne, there were 3 pops, 3 pretty loud pops," said passenger and Dallas eye doctor Larry Taub.
It wasn't the way the flight was supposed to go for the almost 200 people were on board the Boeing 757.
"There were some screams, some screaming, and a lot of commotion ahead of us," recalls Taub.
Interior panels started pulling away from the sides of the plane. Passengers weren't sure what was happening. Taub was a just a few rows away.
"People just seemed concerned. There was a loud pop. People seemed concerned."
Then they heard loud bangs and other noises. The pilot came out of the flight deck to see what was happening for himself. A few minutes later - they turned the plane around.
"It was unusual, one of the flight attendants said she had been flying for 28 years and she had never seen this happen."
American says passengers weren't ever in danger. The airline explained a broken air duct caused the panels to dislodge. Taub says he's just happy he's home.
"You want them to be safe. You're up in the air and in their hands and you want them to make safe decisions."
Contrary to what some passengers said, American says the cabin never lost pressure. American will fly the plane to its Tulsa maintenance facility for repairs. Federal investigators are also looking into what went wrong.
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