United Airlines passenger recalls feeling like she was 'going to die'

United Airlines passenger Tato Lovere recalls feeling like she was ‘going to die’ with 300 others as her plane to Italy plunged 28,000ft in 10 minutes

• Tato Lovere, 47, was on board the scary flight to Rome and said that she was fearing for her life in the moments that the aircraft plummeted through the sky 
• The plane circled twice over Nova Scotia, Canada , at a stable altitude at around 10:30pm before it flew back home 

A United Airlines passenger has recalled the terrifying feeling that she was ‘going to die’ along with 300 others as her plane to Italy dropped 28,000ft in just 10 minutes.  

Tato Lovere, 47, was on board the scary flight to Rome and said that she was fearing for her life in the moments that the aircraft plummeted through the sky.  

Flight data revealed that UAL510, a Boeing 777 travelling from Newark Liberty International Airport to Rome-Fiumicino International Airport, went from an altitude of 37,000ft to 8,700ft in just ten minutes on Wednesday night.

The plane circled twice over Nova Scotia, Canada, at a stable altitude at around 10:30pm before it flew back home. 

Lovere, who was going to Rome to celebrate her birthday, told the NYPost: ‘You saw people’s heads turning, you had people looking at each other, you had people looking for answers without screaming.

Tato Lovere, 47, was on board the scary flight to Rome and said that she was fearing for her life in the moments that the aircraft plummeted through the sky

Flight data revealed the plane circled over Nova Scotia twice before coming back to Newark

‘You literally thought you’re going to die.

‘I tried the best I could first to text message my daughter without causing fear, of letting her know I love her very much and I am proud of her.

Lovere said that her daughter had in fact been tracking the flight pattern – and had called United for answers.

Shortly after takeoff, she said that staff told passengers over the intercom that there were problems with the plane. 

And a clip filmed at the airport gate when the plane eventually landed, a United captain said over the loudspeaker that there was a ‘6 or 8 inch hole on the side of the airplane, so that’s what caused our pressurization issue.’ 

She told the Post: ‘She was on the phone with United asking them about why she saw her mother’s flight [was] going in circles over Halifax.

‘United told her everything [was] fine.’

The plane, which was carrying 270 passengers and 14 crew members, flew back to Newark to ‘address a possible loss of cabin pressure’, a United Airlines spokesperson said.

‘The flight landed safely and there was never any loss of cabin pressure,’ the spokesperson said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the body in charge of regulating flights in the US, also said the plane experienced a ‘pressurization issue,’ prompting it to reverse course.

The flight experienced ‘a possible loss of cabin pressure’, a United Airlines spokesperson said

United Airlines said that the travelers on the plane were eventually flown to Italy on another airplane.

The in-air chaos comes as US airlines have slammed the FAA for not employing enough staff, leading to hundreds of delayed or cancelled flights during a record-setting travel season.

The ordeal has left Lovere shaken, and she said that she’ll be ‘on edge’ for every future flight. 

In July, an Allegiant flight was forced to make a sudden 600ft climb to narrowly avoid colliding with a private jet – leaving an air hostess injured and passengers fearing for their lives.

Jerrica Thacker, 21, was flying back to her home in Lexington, Kentucky from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the aircraft zoomed off track while at an altitude of 23,000ft.

She said that for 20 seconds, the aircraft shot up fast before finally stabilizing – and frightened passengers initially thought it was caused by turbulence.

But it was only minutes later, when the pilot took to the intercom, that they realized the terrifying jolt was because their airplane was on track for a nose-on-nose crash with another jet. 

Jerrica told DailyMail.com: ‘It was my second time on an airplane, so I was already nervous coming into it. The pilot warned us that there would be some turbulence going into it.

‘The stewardess was handing out drinks right in front of me when it happened.

‘It felt like we were going down. I held on to whatever was in front of me, and I was focused in on everything to keep myself from having a panic attack.

‘I thought I felt the place turn around. I was holding my breath the whole time.’

It’s understood that the business jet was just one mile away from the commercial plane when the pilot made the life-saving maneuver.

The FAA confirmed that the Airbus A320 ‘took evasive action’.

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