An Aerolineas Argentinas plane made an emergency landing at Córdoba Airport, after depressurizing the aircraft.
The flag carrier only reported that 6 people were treated with different symptoms, panic, pressure or ear pain. The local media, meanwhile, recorded at least 54 minor injuries.
“I felt excruciating pain in my ear. I think there are people who have perforated eardrums. I recovered. When we got off, there was all the deployment of ambulances and firefighters in Córdoba,” one of the passengers told Miter Córdoba radio.
Aerolineas Argentinas flight 1516 took off from Córdoba bound for the province of Salta with 140 passengers and six crew members. According to reports, the depressurization of the ship occurred about 10 minutes after takeoff.
Among the first testimonies, there was talk of “nervousness” among the crew, the smell of smoke and some injuries.
“The landing was an emergency. They tell us that as a result of a depressurization. There was a smell of smoke, and injured people, with nose bleeds and panic attacks,” said Guadalupe, another passenger, in dialogue with Cadena 3.
Another young woman, Carolina, added: “It began to plummet. We heard a voice from the cabin saying it was an emergency. You could hear what the captain was talking to on the ground. We got scared.”
Airline sources, in dialogue with GO Noticias, specified that the plane managed to make a “normal” landing, although the emergency situation left passengers with some affectation such as panic or pressure.
“The emergency protocols were carried out, which, in a presumed depressurization, implies the fall of masks and the procedure on the ground that includes firefighters and ambulances,” explained Aerolíneas.
As reported by the Municipality of Córdoba, seven ambulances were deployed at the scene. As a result of the incident, there will be delays in other scheduled flights in Córdoba.