Nice job to all the crew.

SkyWest Flight 5622: Hero Nurse Who Helped Passengers: It Was Terrifying : People.com
A nurse who assisted sick passengers on board a SkyWest flight that made an emergency landing Wednesday humbly declines to call herself a hero – instead deeming the pilot and crew the "real heroes" for taking quick actions that potentially saved lives.

Mary Cunningham, 25, an emergency room nurse from Niantic, Connecticut, tells PEOPLE they were about midway through their flight from Chicago to Windsor Locks, Connecticut, when she heard an announcement over the loudspeaker asking if any medical professionals were on board.

"I looked around for a second and didn't see anyone volunteering, so I raised my hand. I was the only one," says Cunningham, who was on a connecting flight on the way home from a vacation in Sanibel, Florida.

A flight attendant quickly ushered her over to a passenger seated near the middle of the plane who was "very lethargic, turning gray, looked very ill," she says.

Cunningham requested an oxygen tank, and once the passenger received the oxygen, "her color came back, she was more alert and just looked a lot better," she says.

Thinking the emergency was over, Cunningham began to return to her seat, but a moment before she sat down they ushered her back again.

This time, she saw another woman passed out unconscious. She was seated directly behind the first ill passenger. As Cunningham began to assess this second passenger, she says she herself began to feel ill – and knew something was gravely wrong.

"I made my way to the back of the plane to try and catch my breath," she says. "Slowly the flight attendant became ill, and other people as well."

The flight crew asked Cunningham if she thought they should get on the ground quickly. She did. "I told the flight attendant to speak to the pilot to make an emergency landing," she said.

Cunningham stressed that the crew acted extremely professionally and quickly alerted the pilot, who took immediate action.

"The pilot told us he was making an emergency landing and we'd be in Buffalo in about 20 minutes," she says. "He told us they would be making a very rapid descent."

Everyone quickly got to their seats and strapped in, she says, as the plane made a landing Cunningham deemed nothing short of petrifying.

"They started a very quick nosedive," she says. "It was absolutely terrifying ... the scary thing was none of the oxygen masks were coming down."

As for the mood on board the plane during the descent, Cunningham says, "Everybody was almost trying to comfort each other; a lot of people were praying. "It was pretty solemn, definitely a grave situation."

However, she says the atmosphere was calm – thanks to the efforts of the crew.

"The flight attendants did a great job keeping us informed. I can't speak enough of them," she says. "People have the impression there was panic or chaos, but it was pretty well controlled. I want to reiterate what a great job the flight attendants and pilots did."

Once on the ground, "people were clapping and cheering. It was complete relief from all around when the plane landed," says Cunningham, who adds that EMTs boarded the flight to tend to the ill passengers.

Cunningham's father, Dan Cunningham, tells PEOPLE he couldn't be more proud of his daughter – and the actions she took in the heat of the moment.

"I'm very proud of her," he says. "She's an ER nurse and in life-and-death situations all the time for work, but never in her life like this. She kept her head."
"It could have been the worst day of my life," he adds. "But it ended up being a great day."

The investigation into the cause of the medical issues on the flight is still ongoing.


SkyWest Flight 5622, operated by United Express

 

That's interesting. Any idea how many of the FOs leaving were in training?

 

Where are they all going? I know we lost a lot to F9, but I don't think they are even taking apps currently. Are they all military guys just checking a box so they can go to DL?

 

I'd rather try (and have). But the futility is hard to ignore...I've come to the conclusion that the only solution is to GTFO and leave the lifers to take their chances. The regional system has been carefully bred and evolved to function exactly the way it does. The only way to win is to not play...bonus points if you know (without google) where that quote came from .

 

One of my favorite movies!

 

Awesome movie, the youngsters won't have a clue though... How about a game of tic tac toe..lol

 

I have heard there are some military that are getting called during training. But nobody really know where people are going. Sometimes you can ask around. Our old SAPA site had some info but it wasn't updated very often. Most airlines will send out monthly reports, but I don't think they want to broadcast how many we are losing. They would rather just tell everyone that we are happy to welcome our 40 new hires and how our recruiters are really busy. We don't mention how our washout rate in increasing (or that we are increasing our attrition in TRG) or that our booth at FAPA was a ghost town.

If that information was known, then maybe our pilot group would realize they are going to have to increase 1st year pay to get people here regardless if we vote for it. Keeping us in the dark allows them to let us think we are a 3% pay increase away from being the next Comair. We don't want to look at other departments and realize there are several ways that we could save 10-15% and improve our QOL, but that would require us to do it a different way. SGU has just decided to stop working with the pilot group as a partner and would rather just send out emails to subtly keep the pressure on us, while CC sends Forbes an email telling them how safety is our #1 priority.

 

My number has gone up 145 spots since mid-November. That's an average of 29 a month. There are not that many guys below me on the seniority list. How did you come up with 170 pilots?

 

Wild ass question: chances of a new hire getting SFO right away? Can I request it as part of being hired, getting it in writing? I am a returning 121 older pilot, not a hobbyist, but have to stay in the bay area. Commuting is really not an option. Thought of Compass where I'd supposedly be a near street hire captain, but would have to commute to LAX. Also, Skywest needs to do the $30-$36 hour first year pay to get me in. Considering the business acumen I've seen, heard, or read about the regionals, my base request and money expectations probably wouldn't line up, no matter how badly they need to get any pilots in the door.

 

I had to Google it.