A passenger on an Air Europa flight diverted to Natal on Monday due to severe turbulence said passengers feared for their lives during the crash, which injured about 30 people.
“There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces and legs,” Stevan told Reuters television in the city of Natal, where flight UX045 from Madrid to the Uruguayan capital Montevideo made an unscheduled landing shortly after 2:30 a.m. local time.
“It was a horrible feeling. We thought we were going to die there,” he said, without giving his full name.
Another passenger, Massimiliano, said the plane – a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with 325 passengers on board – suddenly began to fall.
“All of a sudden, the plane destabilized and went down,” he said. “People who weren’t wearing seatbelts got up, hit the ceiling, and got hurt; people who were wearing seatbelts, not so much.”
Air Europa said in a statement on Monday that seven people suffered varying degrees of injuries and that an unspecified number of passengers suffered minor bruises.
The Rio Grande do Norte government’s Department of Health said 30 passengers were taken to hospitals in Natal with minor abrasions or orthopedic injuries.
The airline added that the plane was being analyzed to determine the extent of the damage and said in a social media post Tuesday that a replacement flight to take passengers to Montevideo had left Natal earlier in the day.
The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident, which comes less than two months after a passenger was killed and dozens injured when turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore.
Some scientists have warned of worsening turbulence linked to climate change.
The most common cause of turbulence is unstable weather patterns that trigger thunderstorms, which can be detected by weather radar.
Recent accidents have increased concerns in the air travel industry regarding seat belts and safety practices.
An international agreement, the Montreal Convention, holds airlines liable for physical injury caused by accidents on international flights, which can include turbulence, regardless of whether they were negligent.
Source: Terra
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