Passengers screamed as United Flight 5971 plunged 4,000 feet. One said they thought it was the end — and a menu stayed jammed in the ceiling until landing.
Flight 5971, a SkyWest‑operated Embraer E175 (registration N110SY) departed Aspen at 5:02 pm bound for Houston. Cruising at 39,000 feet near the Dallas–Fort Worth area, the aircraft hit severe turbulence around 7:27 pm.
The plane briefly lost about 4,350 feet in under a minute, then regained most of it within a minute. We’ve seen even scarier nnumbers online “−11,456 feet per minute” but that’s single momentary sensor sample, not a sustained plunge.
United Express
The crew declared an emergency (“squawk 7700”) and turned toward Austin, landing on Runway 18R around 8:00 pm. Medical teams met the aircraft at the gate.
— G (@GLane22699) August 29, 2025
— Pregame (@BrettDeadCenter) August 29, 2025
The planned Austin to Houston continuation was canceled for the aircraft later that night, presumably because a required inspection and dealing with oxygen masks would have taken too long for the crew to continue even if everything turned out alright.
United Express In Houston
North Texas had evening thunderstorms with a front sagging south, which can produce rough air above the clouds and strong shear near storm edges. The plane would have encountered “convectively‑induced” rough air on the edge of storms or clear‑air shear aloft.
Here are passenger reports from that flight.
My step mom was on the flight with her friends. They thought they were going to die.
— G (@GLane22699) August 29, 2025
I think a lot of people were thinking that. Then when we landed the gate agent was not exactly so nice.
— David (@David75993343) August 29, 2025
The following photo is especially striking, a “magazine stuck to the ceiling.” It actually appears to be a United “Bistro On Board” menu card, wedged in a ceiling seam. Vertical acceleration during the jolt is what launches loose items upward (not the sustained descent rate).
The descent was so fast this United magazine (or whatever it is) actually stuck into the ceiling and remained there the whole flight pic.twitter.com/PwqNgKqjAn
— David (@David75993343) August 29, 2025
No specific injury is publicly documented, however a passenger claims that someone on board “lost teeth.” That’s physically possible but I cannot verif it. In severe turbulence, unrestrained occupants (including in the lav) can strike hard surfaces; and dental injuries do happen in turbulence events. We know that there was a medical response to the flight once it landed.
Also what’s interesting is United pilots never told anyone on the plane what was going on or what happened. They gave very little communication. My stepmoms friend was in the bathroom and lost some of her teeth.
— G (@GLane22699) August 29, 2025
Austin actually sees more diversions than any other airport in the country.
- It’s about 40 minutes flying from Dallas (both DFW and Love Field) as well as Houston (Intercontinental and Hobby) and even closer to San Antonio. So there are a lot of flights in the area that could potentially need a diversion.
- It’s a large facility, formerly the Bergstrom Air Force Base (closed as par of the BRAC process in 1993). It has a 12,250 foot runway as well as a 9,000 foot runway.
- It’s served by all of the major carriers, so it’s a logical diversion point for American; Delta; Southwest; United; Alaska; JetBlue; Spirit; Frontier; Hawaiian; and Allegiant (as well as British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM, Aeromexico, et al).
- It has a customs facility so a functional diversion point for international flights.
United in Austin
Fortunately broken teeth appear to be the most extreme story from this flight and injuries weren’t even more serious.
(HT: @FlyingHighRyan)
Not goint to question the crew’s decision with incomplete information, but I’m sure investigators will question why they opted to fly between two cells over the DFW area when the route to the south appeared clear of convective activity.
Interesting comment: “The planned Austin to Houston continuation was canceled for the aircraft later that night, presumably because a required inspection would have taken too long for the crew to continue even if everything turned out alright.”. Having seen oxygen masks deployed, I would assume that this is the far bigger issue than any inspection: Given that they are a personal use device, all of the masks and bags would have needed to be replaced with new units, and then each unit would have to be properly stowed back in the original position. It would seem that this would be the bigger issue in addition to inspecting the aircraft.
Dear United: We suffered an in-flight emergency and your pilots didn’t say ANYTHING to the passengers, they just completely focused on flying the plane and getting us on the ground safely. What compensation should I expect?
@William — I’m with you. Good on those pilots for prioritizing the Aviate, Navigate, Communicate (ANC).
Yet, I can already see the hypothetical automated text from UA: ‘Hiya, slick-Willy! Sorry bout that drop. Whoopsie. Here’s a $20 voucher to be used within 24 hours. It should getcha a bottled water and some M&Ms. Heck yeah, we fly there!’ (Probably written by AI, or some wacko in Chicago.)
Eh, for a more class-based commentary, they did originate in Aspen… so most of ‘those’ passengers don’t ‘need’ any compensation; who knows, maybe some of them finally ‘woke up,’ and will start treating their ‘staff’ better, but, let’s be probably not. (The beatings will continue until morale…) Even the fear of death cannot inspire more empathy in those types… oh, wait, that criticism is meant for the private jets, not plebs on an E170.
Flying on United has it’s Ups and Downs.
@Alan you’re all right
Is there a website tracking severe turbulence events like this? Be very interesting to see the data and if it’s increasing and by what percent.
I used to be a 1K flyer with United Airlines for years (~150K/year, nearly all domestic) and despite a couple flights with minor mechanical issues require a return to airport landing, I always had a great experience with them.
Wonder if the pilots were too busy changing their pants to make an announcement.
People expecting compensation need to recognize that they are alive. Reminder: The Greed Over People party cut the means for weather prediction…the weather hasn’t stopped occurring. And for those who expected the pilots to talk to you during an emergency…I’m sorry your education failed you. #ConsequencesMatter
What I’d want to know is why they flew into it? This is not a clear air turbulence event which is much more unpredictable. They have on board radar plus ground support to avoid exactly this kind of thing ….
If the pilots explicitly announced for pax to put on the oxygen masks (as mentioned), this suggests that there was also a depressurization.