A passenger plane heading from Spain to Uruguay in South America encountered strong turbulence during the flight, resulting in dozens of passengers getting injured. The plane ultimately made an emergency landing.
According to BBC, an Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight departed from Madrid, Spain on Monday. It was heading to Montevideo, Uruguay, and experienced severe turbulence early in the morning, causing the plane to shake violently. The plane made an emergency landing at Natal International Airport in eastern Brazil.
At the time, there were 325 passengers on board the plane, and among them, 30 passengers suffered injuries such as abrasions due to the turbulence. The injured passengers are currently receiving treatment at a local hospital in Brazil.
Air Europa announced through social media that “the flight heading to Montevideo had to detour to Natal due to strong turbulence” and “the plane landed safely without any major accidents.”
Photos and videos capturing the incident were posted on social media following the event.
The video capturing the situation at the time showed chaos, with passengers not wearing seat belts thrown into the air as the plane encountered strong turbulence and rapidly descended.
One passenger explained the situation at the time, saying, “The crew advised us to fasten our seat belts, and immediately after that advice, the plane started shaking and made a rapid descent. People not wearing seat belts were thrown into the air, and some even hit the ceiling.”
Another passenger said, “Many people were injured, with broken arms and legs. It was truly horrifying.”
Photos and videos taken by passengers showed the plane’s interior with the ceiling broken, exposing the internal wiring and damaged passenger seats. One male passenger was seen being rescued by other passengers after being thrown into the overhead luggage compartment.
The BBC diagnosed the incident with severe turbul, which is rare, but recent studies have shown that the risk may increase due to climate change.”
Meanwhile, a plane of the same type, Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, has also experienced an incident where a passenger was injured due to turbulence.
On May 26, a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flying from Doha, Qatar, to Dublin, Ireland, encountered turbulence, injuring 12 passengers.
Earlier, on May 21, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER passenger plane heading from London to Singapore encountered turbulence in Myanmar’s airspace and made a rapid descent, resulting in one passenger’s death and 85 passengers getting injured.
