USA - Unbelievable what happened on this flight : the cabin ceiling crashed down, the passengers had to hold it - and find a solution themselves!

Tom Witschy (35), who was on board, told"People" how the dramatic situation unfolded around two weeks ago.

The Delta plane was on its way from the US city of Atlanta to Chicago when the ceiling panel came loose. As the plane was still climbing, the passengers were initially not allowed to unbuckle their seatbelts or stand up.

"We held the panel for about 10 to 15 minutes until the flight attendants were finally able to get up and check," Witschy said, adding that the flight crew searched for tape.

A little later, however, a passenger remembered that he had yellow tape with him, which the passengers used to make temporary repairs to the cabin. The repair took about 20 to 45 minutes in total.

Once the ceiling had been temporarily fixed, the plane returned to Atlanta - although Chicago would have been closer.

"People were mostly shocked that something like this even happened, that we had to hold it ourselves for so long, and annoyed that we were flying back to Atlanta after all that. (...) What should have been a short flight of about an hour turned into an all-day odyssey," said Witschy.

Even though it was certainly annoying for the travelers to have such a long delay, fortunately no one was injured and everyone finally arrived at their destination airport.