JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Delta flight traveling from Atlanta to Orlando made an emergency landing at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville Monday afternoon after reports of smoke in the cabin and oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling mid-flight.

The Boeing 757 was carrying 200 passengers and six crew members. Atlanta passenger Peter Stewart was seated in the emergency exit row on Flight 1576.  He was headed to Orlando for a work trip.

“We took off. Everything was normal. It started getting a little warmer and hot in the cabin. The flight, we could tell, slowed down some and then all of a sudden, no warning, just the oxygen masks came down. And shortly after, they said the cabin was depressurizing and told us to put on our masks,” Stewart said.

He says he has logged nearly three million miles in the air over 40 years and this flight was unlike anything he’s ever experienced.

“This was the scariest time I’ve ever been in an airplane,” he said.

As the aircraft rapidly descended, Stewart was able to send one message to his family.

“I just said ‘I love you.’ In the moment, that’s the only thing that popped into my head. And then I went to write something more and the Wi-Fi cut off. And then the plane decelerated even more,” he said. “I know I was saying prayers at the time.”

In the cabin, he says passengers sat in silence.

“It was deathly quiet. In that moment where we’re descending quickly, we’re banking, like you couldn’t hear anything,” he said. “You could see people holding each other’s hands.”

While some passengers reported smelling smoke, Stewart said he didn’t see any. Delta says there are no indications of fire on the plane.

As the plane made it’s quick descent to Cecil Airport, Stewart credits the pilots for their skillful handling of the emergency.

“Delta has a lot of ex-military pilots. That would be my guess on who was flying. Because the way that plane banked like that, so tightly while descending altitude so quickly, I think that was a very competent crew that performed that maneuver and got us into that small airport so quickly,” Stewart said.

Once safely on the ground, emotions overflowed.

“Everybody like erupted in applause for the pilots,” he said.

Delta sent a statement to First Coast News apologizing to customers: “Safety comes before everything else at Delta and our teams will now focus on taking care of our customers and getting them to their destinations.”

The airline arranged ground transportation to get passengers including Stewart to Orlando.

“Delta Air Lines Flight 1576 landed safely at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, around 2 p.m. local time Monday, June 9, after the crew reported a pressurization issue. The Boeing 757-200 was flying from Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Orlando International Airport. The FAA will investigate. Contact the airline for information,” an FAA statement said.

Asked whether he plans to fly back home to Atlanta, Stewart says he may take a break from flying this week.

“Honestly, I haven’t made up my mind yet. Like part of me wants to just rent a car. And drive back.”