Due to severe turbulence, an Air Europa plane had to make an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil. “It was a few seconds of chaos. We were flying over the Atlantic when they announced that there might be turbulence,” one passenger told El Pais. She added that “a few seconds later” people without seat belts were “flew” out of their seats. Brazilian medical services reported that 30 people suffered minor injuries.
A Spanish Air Europa plane flying from Madrid to Montevideo had to make an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil, on Monday morning due to severe turbulence over the Atlantic.
The carrier reported on platform X that flight UX045 landed without a problem at the airport in Natal. The injured with injuries of “various degrees” received medical assistance.
Dozens of people slightly injured. “It was a few seconds of chaos”
Turbulence hit early Monday morning as many passengers were sleeping without their seatbelts on. Some hit their heads on the ceiling and fell out of their seats, the Montevideo news portal reported.
Thirty passengers were taken to hospitals in Natal with minor abrasions and orthopedic injuries, the health secretariat of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, where Natal is located, said. A total of 325 passengers were on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to the Infobae website.
“It was a few seconds of chaos. We were flying over the Atlantic when they announced that there might be turbulence. A few seconds later (…) people without seat belts were thrown out (from their seats – editor's note)” – one of the passengers told the daily “El Pais”.
Another passenger, Stevan from Uruguay, told Reuters that “there are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces and legs”. “About 30 people were injured. It was a terrible feeling, we thought we were going to die there, but thank God we didn't,” he added.
Maximiliano, who was also on board, said the plane immediately “went into a nosedive.” “People who weren’t wearing seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, which caused injuries,” he recalled.
He said that after the emergency landing, medical services provided aid to the injured on the airport tarmac. “We were in the plane for three or four hours, unable to move. Then we left the plane,” he said.
Main image source: Reuters