Nando Times

FRANKFURT, Germany (August 30, 2000 10:39 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com)

- A Dutch KLM passenger jet carrying 125 people made an emergency landing Wednesday at Frankfurt international airport after the plane lost cabin pressure.

The Boeing 767-300 was on a flight from Amsterdam to Milan, Italy, when the air conditioning stopped working, resulting in a drop in cabin pressure, KLM said.

Passenger oxygen masks mounted above the seats automatically dropped down and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing after reducing the plane's altitude to equalize the pressure, the airline said.

According to KLM, there was never any danger to the 116 passengers and nine crew members on board, but the landing was registered as an emergency because fire crews and medics are automatically sent out to meet a plane reporting difficulties.

The passengers exited normally down the steps of the plane and were taken to a terminal to rebook on other flights, the airline said.

On Sunday, a KLM Boeing 747 carrying 449 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles after it lost parts of an engine shortly after takeoff on a flight to Amsterdam.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), August 30, 2000