Hello everyone! We’ve got some harrowing news from the skies that you need to hear about. Passengers on a Uruguay-bound Air Europa flight faced terrifying moments when their plane was diverted to Brazil due to severe turbulence on Monday.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which left from Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, was en route to Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, Uruguay, carrying 325 passengers. During the early hours of Monday, the aircraft encountered heavy turbulence, causing widespread panic and injuries.
One passenger, Stevan, recounted the terrifying experience to Reuters TV in the Brazilian city of Natal, where the flight made an emergency landing just after 2:30 a.m. local time. “There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces, and legs,” he said. “It was a pretty horrible feeling. We thought we were going to die there.” The turbulence left dozens injured, some seriously.
Air Europa officials stated that “7 people were injured of varying degrees, as well as an undetermined number of people with minor contusions.” Due to the severity of the turbulence, the decision was made to divert the flight to Natal International Airport in Brazil for safety reasons. As of Tuesday, six people were still hospitalized in Natal.
A Boeing 787 passenger was thrown onto a luggage rack during severe turbulence. About 40 people were also injured
The Air Europa flight was en route from Madrid to Montevideo. During the flight, the Dreamliner hit severe turbulence.
pic.twitter.com/bMB5G4km8J— MH Chronicle (@MHNewsDaily) July 2, 2024
The health secretariat from the government of Rio Grande do Norte state, where Natal is located, reported that 30 passengers were initially taken to hospitals with minor abrasions or orthopedic traumas. Passengers shared their terrifying experiences on social media and with news outlets.
One user, @romiapai, posted in Spanish on X, “Strong turbulence caused us to fly into the ceiling,” along with a video from inside the plane. Another passenger, Maximiliano, told Reuters, “From one moment to the next, the plane destabilized and went into a dive. The people who didn’t have seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, and they got hurt – those who had seat belts on, not so much.”
An Air Europa passenger found themselves trapped in an overhead bin during a harrowing flight from Madrid to Montevideo, Uruguay, as severe turbulence forced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to make an emergency diversion early Monday morning.
🔗: https://t.co/HujHYxZ0Ze pic.twitter.com/q3BIG0qSkH
— What’s Trending (@WhatsTrending) July 2, 2024
The most common cause of turbulence is unstable weather patterns that trigger storms. These storms can usually be detected by weather radar, allowing pilots to navigate around them. However, this incident has heightened concerns in the air travel industry about seat belts and safety practices.
