Couple's terror as plane plunges 20,000ft after loss of cabin pressure !

A couple have described the terrifying moment their plane plunged 20,000ft as the captain screamed 'Mayday! Mayday!' after a sudden loss of cabin pressure.
Melvin Frater and his wife Jacqueline were flying back from Milan to East Midlands Airport on a Ryanair flight on Wednesday when they heard a 'bang' followed by a rush of cold air.
Describing the drama, they said the captain could be heard over the speaker system saying they were making an emergency descent and calling out 'Mayday'.

Plunge panic: Melvin and Jacqueline Frater were flying back from Milan to East Midlands Airport when their plane nose-dived 20,000ft after a sudden drop in cabin pressure

Crisis: Mr and Mrs Frater heard a loud bang and felt a rush of cold air, then the oxygen masks dropped down as in this previous emergency

They said they could see snow-covered mountains 'approaching fast' out of the windows of flight FR 1703, which was carrying 134 passengers from Milan Bergamo airport.
'We were literally falling out of the sky and the ground was coming closer every second. I thought my number was up,' Mrs Frater told the Daily Mirror.

'When the captain told us what was happening, I could hear the terror in his voice.'
Mr Frater, from Nottingham, added: 'We were approximately 20 minutes into the flight when we heard a bang, followed by a rush of very cold air, rushing by our feet, from the front to the back of the plane.
'This was immediately followed by the deployment of the oxygen masks and the plane began to make a rapid descent.'

Mayday mayhem: The couple were travelling on a Ryanair Boeing 737 like this one when the drama played out 20 minutes into the flight

Mr Frater, 55, said children and babies started to cry, but passengers remained calm and followed the safety procedures.
He said: 'It was quite strange that, unlike the scenes of panic and screaming which accompany cinema portrayals of such situations, there was initially a real sense of calm and quiet - we just followed safety procedures.
'The captain could then be heard over the speaker system - whether this was supposed to be heard by the passengers I do not know - but it was very unnerving to hear him say something like "we are making an emergency descent due to loss of cabin pressure. Mayday!".'
He said once the plane had levelled out, the air crew told them the oxygen masks were no longer needed.

'We were literally falling out of the sky and the ground was coming closer every second'

The captain apologised and explained to passengers over the speaker system that the crews had followed the correct procedures to cope with sudden loss of pressure and they had reduced altitude to just 9,000 feet, Mr Frater said.
The Boeing 737-800 plane was diverted to Frankfurt Hahn airport, where they were later transferred to a different plane and flown back to East Midlands Airport.
Three people were taken to hospital for precautionary examination following the incident, Ryanair confirmed.
In a statement, the company apologised to passengers for the incident.
It said three people were taken to hospital for precautionary checks with ear pain concerns but were released shortly afterwards.
No passengers were injured during the depressurisation incident, the airline said.
The statement said: 'Flight FR1703 (Milan to East Midlands) diverted to Frankfurt Hahn after the captain identified a pressurisation warning, deployed the oxygen masks, and descended to 10,000ft as recommended.
'The aircraft landed at midday (local time) and passengers disembarked normally, to be provided with refreshments.
'A replacement aircraft took them onwards to East Midlands Airport with an estimated delay of four hours.
'Ryanair apologises sincerely to all passengers affected by this diversion and delay.'