It's safe to bet no group of passengers has ever been happier to see oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, after those on board struggled to breathe several thousand feet up.

"Everyone started coughing and gagging and then we started coughing and gagging," passenger Connie Lasher says.

"I turned to her to say something and I started coughing and then she did and we were just hiding our faces trying to find air," passenger Donna Zahn says.

"That's when I got up to tell her something was burning my eyes and we saw her reach for the phone and start calling the pilot," passenger Richard Becerio says.

Passengers aboard Southwest Airlines flight 756 from Kansas City to Las Vegas say they wore oxygen for 20 minutes.

This after something that smelled electrical but felt like pepper spray invaded the cabin.

"I didn't have a clue because I never smelt anything like that before,"  Zahn says.

As the passengers were picking up their luggage they told Action News the problem started in the back of the plane.

"People were banging on the tope of the oxygen masks guards trying to get them to open up," Lasher says.

One passenger says his didn't drop right away.

"It was pretty bad, we ended up grabbing somebody in front of us because there were three masks and two seats so we grabbed theirs, while trying to pry ours open," Becerio says.

But when it did drop it was the same feeling for all passengers.

"It was a relief," Lasher says.

A relief to have their bags in hand and safely on the ground.

Six people were taken to the hospital and treated for the irritation.

Action News is being told most if not all of them were crew members.

Passengers say the crew did a great job and no one ever panicked.

Keep it tuned to Channel 13.