United Airlines passenger Tato Lovere recalls feeling like she was ‘going to die’ with 300 others as her plane to Italy plunged 28,000ft in 10 minutes

A United Airlines passenger recalled the terrifying feeling that she and 300 others were “going to die” when her plane to Italy dropped 25,000 feet in just 10 minutes.

Tato Lovere, 47, was aboard the scary flight to Rome and said she feared for her life as the plane plummeted through the sky.

Flight data showed that the UAL510, a Boeing 777 traveling from Newark Liberty International Airport to Rome-Fiumicino International Airport, went from an altitude of 37,000 feet to 27,700 feet in just 10 minutes Wednesday night.

The plane circled twice over Nova Scotia, Canada, at a stable altitude around 10:30 PM before flying back home.

Lovere, who went to Rome to celebrate her birthday, told the NYPost: “You saw people’s heads turning, you saw people looking at each other, you saw people looking for answers without shouting.

Flight data showed the plane circled over Nova Scotia twice before returning to Newark

‘You literally thought you were going to die.

“I tried my best to text my daughter first without causing any anxiety, to let her know that I love her very much and am proud of her.

Lovere said her daughter monitored the flight pattern and called United for answers.

Shortly after takeoff, she said staff told passengers over the intercom that there were problems with the plane.

And a segment was filmed at the airport gate when the plane finally landed. A United captain said over the loudspeaker that there was a “six to eight inch hole in the side of the plane, so that’s the source of our pressure problem.”

She told the Post: “She was on the phone with United asking them why she saw her mother’s flight going in circles over Halifax.

“United told her everything was fine.”

The plane, which was carrying 270 passengers and 14 crew members, flew back to Newark to “accommodate a possible loss of cabin pressure,” a United Airlines spokesperson said.

“The flight landed safely and there was never any loss of cabin pressure,” the spokesperson said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency responsible for regulating flights in the US, also said the plane experienced a “pressurization problem” that forced it to change course.

There was “a possible loss of cabin pressure” during the flight, a United Airlines spokesperson said

United Airlines said the travelers on the plane were eventually flown to Italy on another plane.

The chaos in the skies comes as U.S. airlines have criticized the FAA for not having enough staff, leading to hundreds of delayed or canceled flights during a record travel season.

The ordeal has left Lovere shaken and she said she will be “on edge” for any future flight.

In July, an Allegiant flight was forced to make a sudden 600-foot climb to narrowly avoid a collision with a private jet, leaving a flight attendant injured and passengers fearing for their lives.

Jerrica Thacker, 21, was flying back to her home in Lexington, Kentucky from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the plane went off the runway at an altitude of 25,000 feet.

She said the plane shot up rapidly for 20 seconds before finally stabilizing – and frightened passengers initially thought it was caused by turbulence.

But it wasn’t until minutes later, when the pilot went on the intercom, that they realized the terrifying jolt came because their plane was on course for a nose-to-nose crash with another jetliner.

Jerrica told DailyMail.com: ‘It was my second time on a plane, so I was already nervous when I got on it. The pilot warned us that there would be some turbulence.

‘The flight attendant was handing out drinks right in front of me when it happened.

‘It felt like we were going down. I clung to what was in front of me and focused on everything to avoid having a panic attack.

‘I thought I felt things turning around. I held my breath the whole time.”

It is understood the business jet was just a mile away from the commercial plane when the pilot made the life-saving maneuver.

The FAA confirmed that the Airbus A320 “took evasive action.”