AT least 15 people have been injured after a JetBlue passenger plane suddenly dropped in altitude.
The plane’s pilot was heard requesting medical assistance from air traffic controllers in audio that has since been released.
The Airbus 320 plane left Cancun Airport in Mexico on Thursday and was supposed to be heading to Newark Airport in New Jersey.
But it was forced to divert to Tampa in Florida where it made an emergency landing.
The plane had reached an altitude of 35,000 feet and a cruising speed of more than 620mph before it suddenly dropped around an hour into the flight.
And audio shared on Live ATC captured the drama that unfolded.
“JetBlue 1230 descending to 10 thousand, we’re leveling 297,” the pilot said.
“We need medical equipment… because of flight control issue, it caused the medical issue,” they said.
The pilot revealed three people on board the flight had been injured.
“Seems like maybe a laceration in the head,” they said.
At least 15 people were taken to hospitals in the Tampa area once the plane landed.
Investigators are still working out why the plane dropped in altitude.
JetBlue representatives said the plane was taken out of service so it could be inspected.
“The safety of our customers and crewmembers is always our first priority, and we will work to support those involved,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
A JetBlue plane left Tampa later that Thursday evening, landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport.
Federal aviation officials have also launched an investigation.
Earlier this month, two Delta planes crashed into each other at LaGuardia Airport.
One of the jets saw its wing ripped off following the collision, while the other suffered damage to its nose.
The air scare comes just months after a SkyWest Airlines pilot was forced to make a mid-air maneuver to avoid a collision with a B-52 bomber.
The passenger jet had taken off from Minneapolis Saint Paul airport and was heading to North Dakota when the dramatic moment happened.
A B-52 Stratofortress plane was in the jet’s flight path, so the pilot had to abort its usual route.
Several plane crashes were reported earlier this year.
Sixty-seven people were killed when an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in January.
And, weeks later, a Delta Airlines plane flipped on its roof after a hard landing at Toronto Pearson airport in snowy conditions.
US on edge over ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A series of devastating plane crashes, including the mid-air collision above DC that killed 67, has left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.”
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.
“When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”
The short period Matzus referred to was just a matter of three weeks. The aviation mishaps included:
January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport, killing 67 people
January 31 – An air ambulance carrying a 6-year-old girl and her mom crashed on a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in total
February 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injured
February 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed killing all 10 people on board
February 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided with another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four others
February 17 – A Delta plane crashed on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21
February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people
February 24 – Smoke filled a Delta Airlines flight cabin forcing passengers to evacuate by a slide after making an emergency landing in Atlanta
March 9 – A Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed into a retirement village parking lot in Manheim, Pennsylvania
March 13 – An American Airlines jet engine erupted into flames at the Denver airport, forcing passengers to escape onto the plane’s wing
