Whilst flying from Shanghai in China to New York on Friday, a pilot decided to dump 30 tonnes of fuel in mid air.
Having departed from Shanghai on time, the China Eastern Airline flight was operating smoothly when a passenger suddenly became ill.
After takeoff, the 60-year-old woman began having trouble breathing.
In order to better perform the medical assistance required, the passenger and her daughter were transferred from economy to business class.
The onboard crew started to medically assist the passenger but her condition started to deteriorate.
According to The Straits Times, the women started to slip into an unconscious and dangerous state.
Having asserted the crew had done all in their power to assist the passenger, the pilot, Gu Jian, made a very bold decision.
Jian discharged 30-tonnes of fuel from the aircraft whilst still flying in the air.
The reason being that dumping the fuel would make the aircraft lighter and he would, therefore, be able to make an emergency landing.
Jian then went on to safely land the aircraft at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska.
Gu explained to CGTN:”The aeroplane’s weight was 282 tons, far more than the maximum landing weight.”
“When the sick passenger needed medical attention for safety reasons, the plane had to descend and dump gasoline at the same time.”
Upon landing, the unwell passenger was rushed to a hospital in Alaska for further medical assistance.
Once the passenger was taken care of, the plane was able to refuel at Anchorage Airport.
Jian was then able to take off once more and arrived safely into New York six hours behind schedule.
According to later reports, the woman was later discharged from hospital and she continued her journey the following morning.
Fortunately, in this instance, the plane was able to land smoothly and safely at Anchorage Airport.
Previous footage went viral after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing whilst travelling from Arizona to Texas.
After an “unusual smell” was discovered in the cabin, the pilots decided to divert to New Mexico airport.
Passengers were told to brace as they landed, with one man filming the passengers having to jump down the emergency exit over the wing of the plane.
