Plane With 111 Passengers, 7 Congressmen Makes Emergency Landing

July 22, 2008 10:47 p.m. EST

New Orleans, LA (AHN) - Seven Texas congressmen were among 118 passengers safe after a Continental plane flying them from Houston to Washington made an emergency landing at an airport here Tuesday.

Continental Flight 458 lost cabin pressure and the pilot quickly landed the plane at Louis Armstrong International Airport at 3:15 p.m., nearly an hour after taking off from George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The plane had been scheduled to arrive at Ronald Reagan National Airport at 5:15 p.m.

Continental spokeswoman Julie King and Armstrong airport spokeswoman Michelle Wilcutt told NOLA.com no passengers were injured, including Republican Reps. Ted Poe, John Carter, and Ron Paul, and Democratic Reps. Nick Lampson, Ciro Rodriguez, Solomon Ortiz, and Henry Cuellar.

Continental took care of the passengers' temporary accommodation in New Orleans.

The emergency landing was a standard operating procedure.