Jet plunges 27,000 feet in 10 minutes as oxygen masks suddenly drop aboard flight

The flight was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members.

The flight, which was traveling from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, descended roughly 27,000 feet in about 10 minutes as oxygen masks deployed in the cabin, according to reports.

News of the rapid descent could be heard in communications between the pilots and air traffic control.

"Delta 2311 currently [in] rapid descent. We'd like to get down to 9,000, and we're direct [to] Las Vegas," a pilot said in an air traffic control recording, according to reports.

When an air traffic controller asked, "Is the oxygen deployed?" the pilot responded, "Affirmative."

Delta arranged for another aircraft so that passengers could continue on with their journey.

"Delta sincerely apologizes to our customers for their experience and thanks our flight crews and other support teams on the ground for their professionalism," the spokesperson said.

In a case such as the Delta one, he told Fox News Digital pilots in this scenario would need "to land as soon as practical - meaning, what's the closest airfield with a nice, long, suitable runway where we can get this thing on the ground safely."

"The scariest part wasn't even the descent - it was not knowing what was going on," the passenger wrote on Reddit. "Flight attendants were trying to make announcements with their masks on, and it was almost impossible to hear them."

The passenger was reportedly asleep when a fiancé said something about what was going on.

"It took me another second of 'Is this real or am I dreaming?' before getting our masks on," the traveler wrote.

"I was frantically trying to see if I could get on WiFi because I didn't know if I was going to have to be sending out 'I love you' texts," the person added.

One Reddit user recalled a previous Delta flight that descended from about 34,000 feet to 10,000 feet while passengers wore oxygen masks.

"The several minutes of rapid descent ... [were] pretty jarring until the captain finally came on the mic once we were at a safe altitude," the commenter wrote, adding that passengers remained quiet and focused on breathing through their masks.