FLIGHT FROM HELL
Terrifying moment plane cabin fills with smoke leaving passengers choking as flight forced to make emergency landing
PASSENGERS desperately pleaded for oxygen masks to drop as a plane cabin terrifyingly began to fill with smoke mid-air.
Travellers on the Gol Airlines flight across Brazil were left gasping for air as pilots were forced to make a dramatic emergency landing.
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Chilling footage of the chaotic incident shows people covering their noses and mouths with their clothes as smoke engulfs the cabin.
Passengers could barely see those sitting on the row in front as the alarming haze filled the plane shortly after departing from the Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro.
Those onboard frantically covered their noses and mouths with their clothing as the white smoke alarmingly continued to rise.
Despite the chaos unfolding in the cabin on Saturday, holidaymakers claimed that oxygen masks were not deployed.
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The plane had only been in the air for a short time before the horror incident unfolded en route to Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo.
Pilots were forced to perform a dramatic U-turn to return to Brazil's capital as panicking passengers feared for their lives.
Julian von Dueffel managed to film his ordeal on his phone, providing a glimpse into the moments of terror onboard the Gol flight 1003.
He told local media: "We took off, I saw Barra Beach, and suddenly this smoke started.
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"I looked back, and I saw that the plane was full of smoke; it was spreading.
"Panic ensued, with many people shouting, asking for the masks to drop."
Julian explained he practised a breathing technique to help him remain calm, as scared flyers gasped for air.
He added: "This training teaches self-control, and dealing with emotions because when we go through a situation like this, there's stress.
"In a traumatic situation, the body takes over, and a person can hyperventilate.
"And I learnt in my breathing career how to regulate, control my body."
Gol said the 102 passengers and crew members disembarked safely via the stairs after the Boeing 737 landed without incident.
Four passengers were taken for medical check-ups and were each given the all-clear.
The airline claimed that the smoke came from hydraulic fluid vapours that entered the cabin through the ventilation system.
Despite passengers complaining that the oxygen masks failed to drop, Gol said this was in line with safety procedures.
The masks have their own oxygen generators, but also rely on cabin air to function - meaning passengers would have also inhaled smoke.
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We previously told how fireballs shot from a Gol passenger jet engine that was embarking on the same journey in 2019.
The Sao-Paulo-bound plane was also forced to make an emergency landing moments after taking off amid the terrifying incident.
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