Severe turbulence during a transatlantic “nightmare” flight sent three people to the hospital.
At least 12 passengers aboard Flight 1133, operated by Aerolineas Argentinas, were injured, with one of them breaking their nose with the ceiling of the aircraft, Spanish outlet El Pais reported. The flight on 18 October took off from Madrid and hit extreme turbulence over the Atlantic before landing in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Most of the 297 passengers aboard were asleep and were caught off guard when the chaos broke. Nine people were treated for contusions and three were hospitalised after the flight landed at the Ezeiza airport in the early morning hours of on 19 October.
Accounts of the terrifying flight on social media described how passengers were thrown to the floor and objects crashed inside the Airbus A330-200 plane. Pictures shared online also show luggage, food trays and other belongings scattered on the floor after the mayhem.
Aerolineas Argentinas said in a statement that the cabin sustained damages due to the“impact with the passengers’ heads against the ceiling.” The company also said that the seatbelt signs were on when the turbulence hit, which has been refuted by some passengers.
Passenger Adrian Torres recounted the frightening experience to El Pais.
“We were seven hours in and most of us were sleeping because at that time it would have been 3am in Spain. The plane started moving a lot, so I told my friends, “There’s a lot of turbulence, put your seatbelts on,” Mr Torres told the outlet.
“I looked and the seatbelt sign was not on but I put it on regardless. While I was trying to do so, the plane hit the biggest turbulence and it went down - I’m not sure how many feet - and then we were launched to the ceiling.”
Mr Torres said he had some bruises but one of his friends was left paralysed for three minutes, and another had a broken nose. He also said that the crew did not warn passengers of the turbulence.
