passengers held their heads and prayed as flight 5622 , operating as a united express , dropped nearly 30,000 feet in eight minutes .
the situation arose about an hour after take-off , when three passengers on the embraer 175 twin-jet from chicago to connecticut lost consciousness and others began feeling dizzy and sick .
when the plane landed , skywest initially claimed that the aircraft landed ` out of an abundance of caution ' because of one sick passenger and denied there was any mechanical malfunction - which conflicted with reports from people on the plane .