The Nation - News from Jan. 3, 1988

A United Airlines jet carrying Democratic presidential aspirant Richard A. Gephardt suddenly lost cabin pressure, forcing passengers to use oxygen masks and the pilot to return to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Missouri Rep. Gephardt and several members of his campaign staff were among the 37 passengers and five crew members aboard the flight from Chicago to Omaha when the Boeing 737’s cabin pressure dropped. “There were no injuries,” United spokesman Rob Doughty said. After arriving in Omaha later, Gephardt told a rally across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa: “I’m thrilled to be here.” He said he experienced no discomfort on the first flight. “I guess I’m kind of a fatalist,” he said, adding he’d worry about dying when “the time comes.”