Due to severe turbulence, a Lufthansa plane made an unscheduled landing in Washington on Wednesday evening (local time) on its way from the USA to Frankfurt. A company spokesman said when asked by the German Press Agency that individual people were slightly injured by the turbulence. The affected passengers were given first aid on board by the flight attendants trained for these cases.
After flying through the turbulence, the cockpit crew of flight LH469 – according to flight data analyst Cirium an Airbus A330-300 – decided to make an alternate landing at Dulles International Airport, it said. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers.
According to Lufthansa, the air movements were so-called clear air turbulence, which can occur without visible weather phenomena and prior warning. The machine, which started in Austin, Texas, was caught in turbulence 90 minutes after taking off. According to US media reports, the airport operator in Washington – the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority – and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that seven people had been taken to hospitals.
