NEW ORLEANS - A Continental Airlines flight carrying former presidential candidate Ron Paul and six other members of Congress to Washington, D.C., made an emergency landing in New Orleans on Tuesday after a loss in cabin pressure.

The seven congressmen, all from Texas, were trying to get back in time for a Tuesday night vote on an aviation safety bill when the flight landed without incident.

No injuries were reported among the 128 crew and passengers.

FAA spokeswoman Lynn Tierney said Flight 458 from Houston initiated a rapid descent to bring the plane to an altitude below where adding oxygen was necessary.

It was given priority to land at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Trevor Kincaid, a spokesman for passenger and Representative Nick Lampson, said his boss told him there was no panic on the plane. Lampson told Kincaid the plane's oxygen masks dropped down.

The emergency landing was the third time in two days a plane was diverted over cabin pressure issues.

A US Airways flight and a Northwest Airlines flight were diverted to airports in Kentucky and Wisconsin on Monday over cabin pressure issues.

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