Violent turbulence puts 10 passengers in hospital
We’re always told to leave our seatbelts on during flights – even at cruising altitude – and a terrifying ordeal onboard an American Airlines flight from Athens to Philadelphia has revealed just how important this advice really is.
Flight 759, carrying 287 passengers and 12 crew members, experienced severe and unexpected turbulence just half an hour before landing at Philadelphia International Airport.
“Thirty minutes out, they were giving us our drinks. The flight attendants were in the last couple rows when they said, ‘Fasten your seat belts,’” passenger Ian Smith told Philadelphia news station WPVI. “And then they said for the flight attendants to get to their seats, and they didn’t even have time. It started shaking, then it took a big drop. Babies screaming, people in front of us hitting the ceiling.”
Passengers disoriented and relieved, after turbulent American flight from Athens to Philly. #americanair #TURBULENCE #injured #alive pic.twitter.com/PQzv5gxCUn
— Ervin Fang (@efnov6) August 6, 2017
Another passenger, Ervin Fang, who posted about the ordeal on Twitter, described the incident as the “worst turbulence ever,” revealing he thought he was about to die.
According to fellow traveller Jessica Huseman, the incident couldn’t have come at a worse time. “They’d just handed out drinks,” she tweeted. “This plane [that I’m still on] is soaked. Soaked. They’ll be hosing this out for hours.”
American Airlines issued a statement yesterday, revealing 10 people had been hospitalised. “Three passengers and seven crew members were transported to a local hospital for evaluation,” a spokesperson said. “We are taking care of our passengers and our crew members at this time and want to thank our team members for keeping our passengers safe.”
Flick through the gallery above to see the unbelievable photos of the aftermath of the turbulence and tell us in the comments, have you ever experienced a rough flight like this?
Image credit: Ervin Fang/Twitter.