At least 50 people have been injured in an incident on a flight between Sydney, Australia and the New Zealand city of Auckland. A “technical problem” caused severe turbulence on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on Monday, reported the broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ), citing the Chilean airline LATAM.
The plane lost altitude very quickly and people were thrown onto the cabin ceiling, passengers reported to New Zealand media: “People flew through the air because they weren’t wearing seatbelts,” one passenger told broadcaster RNZ. “A few people were hurt pretty badly. People were really scared,” he said, his voice shaking. The plane was able to land in Auckland as scheduled in the late afternoon (local time).
The problems at Boeing don’t stop. In January, in an incident with a virtually new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-8 Max, a fuselage fragment broke out shortly after takeoff. The more than 170 people on board were largely shocked. As it became known over the weekend, the US Department of Justice is now investigating the case.
The injured on the flight to Auckland, including several crew members, were immediately treated by doctors after landing. The rescue workers were on duty with five ambulances, as announced by the St. John Ambulance rescue service. Accordingly, there is at least one seriously injured person. More than a dozen inmates were taken to hospitals.
“People were flying through the cabin,” RNZ quoted a passenger on Monday’s flight as saying, who was uninjured. Most of those affected were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident. The plane was actually supposed to fly on to Santiago de Chile in the evening. However, the flight was initially canceled and postponed to Tuesday. It was initially unclear what exactly caused the incident.
Note: This article has been updated with details about the accident.
