THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150391
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
A Boeing 727 carrying 120 passengers to Santo Domingo made an emergency landing at Norfolk International Airport Tuesday after the plane lost cabin pressure, officials said.
Two passengers were hospitalized for chest pains and several others were treated at the airport for breathing problems, eardrum pain and bloody noses.
``There appears to be no serious injuries, which is our first concern,'' said Wayne E. Shank, deputy executive director of the airport. ``There appears to be no damage to the aircraft. All of our emergency-response capabilities worked well.''
Miami Air International Flight 297, with a crew of eight, was en route to the Caribbean from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The plane was cruising 100 miles off the Virginia coast when it alerted Norfolk airport officials of the cabin-pressure problems.
Shank said the airport was contacted at 9:17 a.m. The plane landed safely just after 9:30 a.m.
The injured passengers - including a cancer patient suffering from exhaustion - were treated by rescuers at the airport and did not need to be hospitalized. Two passengers and two flight attendants were taken to Sentara Leigh Hospital.
Mariana Valerio, 54, of New York, who has asthma, suffered chest pains and breathing problems. Jose Fermin, 77, of Santo Domingo, who has emphysema, also suffered chest pains. They were listed in stable condition Tuesday afternoon.
The flight attendants were checked for eardrum problems caused by the loss of cabin pressure, a hospital spokeswoman said. She did not expect them to be admitted.
The remaining passengers paced inside the International Terminal while awaiting another Miami Air flight, which flew them to Santo Domingo late Tuesday afternoon.
Airline officials would not allow the passengers to be interviewed. But, by using hand gestures, some nodded their heads from behind the glass doors at the airport terminal that they were feeling fine.
Several cupped their hands over their mouths, indicating that oxygen masks had dropped from the plane's overhead compartments. Others showed that their ears had been popping and that they screamed and felt queasy while the plane descended.
Passengers said they flew for 15 to 20 minutes while breathing through oxygen masks.
Ross Fischer, president of Miami Air, said the jet was flying at cruise altitude - about 31,000 feet - when crew members noticed the cabin pressure dropping. They were unable to adjust the pressure and rerouted to Norfolk.
He said the crew members followed correct procedures and did everything they could.
``I think they handled (the landing) excellently,'' Fischer said.
Airport rescue personnel were assisted by fire department crews from Norfolk and Virginia Beach. ``If you have to have an emergency, we're pleased with how things turned out . . .,'' Shank said.
Airplanes have air cycle machines that compress outside air into the cabin every two minutes. Some of that air can escape if the equipment leaks, causing breathing problems and sometimes forcing planes to land.
That appeared to be the case Tuesday, Fischer said.
Miami Air is a private charter airline that serves North and South America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe. The airline's first flight was in October 1991. The fleet consists of seven 727 jetliners.
The Federal Aviation Administration no longer considers Miami Air a start-up airline, Fischer said.
``Miami Air is inspected routinely by the FAA and the military,'' Fischer said. ``We've never had any problem with inspections.''
He said the 727 that landed in Norfolk has never had any mechanical problems. It will be checked, repaired and test flown before it is used in any more passenger flights. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN, The Virginian-Pilot
A passenger is carried off a Miami Air jet after its emergency
landing Tuesday in Norfolk during a flight from New York bound for
Santo Domingo. The man was one of two passengers hospitalized.
by CNB