FAA probes jetliner emergency [View All]

[douglas9]

Source: Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday launched an investigation into sudden cabin depressurization on a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 from Houston that forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.

The flight, bound for Washington, carried 118 passengers, including seven congressmen from Texas.

Les Dorr, an FAA spokesman, said the plane was being inspected in New Orleans, where Continental Flight 458 landed late Tuesday after the pilot declared a mid-air emergency and oxygen masks dropped from overhead compartments.

"It's important to note that this was not a rapid decompression or the plane took a nose dive or anything like that," Dorr said.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5904475.html