A British Airways crew member has two pelvic fractures after they were thrown across the plane during severe turbulence.
The unnamed airline employee was drinking a cup of tea over the coast of North Africa when the Airbus A350 entered unexpected turbulence during the cruise.
The cabin crew member in the galley was "lifted off their feet", fell back onto the floor and suffered two hip fractures and a badly bruised shoulder, a Government Air Accident Investigation Branch report said yesterday.
A second cabin crew member received a minor cut, during the 20 seconds of turbulence, from fragments of the cup which fell out of the original cabin crew member's hand.
There was no mention of burns from the hot beverage in the report.
The report read: "The most severely injured person had been drinking a cup of tea when the turbulence started and was moving to the galley sink to dispose of it when the severity of the aircraft’s motion lifted them off their feet."
The 15 crew and 323 passengers did not experience any more turbulence and the 56-year-old pilot continued to the planned destination.
The seriously injured crew member was then taken to hospital, where X-rays showed two pelvic fractures.
The captain, with two and a half years of flying experience, said seat belt signs were off at the time, but if they were on it would not have prevented the crew member from being hurt.
The unnamed pilot said unexpected turbulence is a normal operating hazard and wearing seat belts is a sensible precaution even if the sign is not illuminated.
The National Transportation Safety Board report showed that 111 turbulence-related accidents occurred between 2009 and 2018 that resulted in at least one serious injury.
On Wednesday, a Qatar Airways flight between Doha, Qatar, and Denpasar, Indonesia, was forced to make a diversion to Bangkok, Thailand, on May 10 following a severe wave of turbulence that left several individuals on board injured.
The flight landed in Thailand roughly half an hour after the incident and less than six hours after take-off, allowing passengers and crew to seek medical assistance.
“Qatar Airways flight QR960 diverted to Bangkok following an encounter with clear air turbulence, which resulted in some moderate and a few minor injuries on board. Upon landing safely, the aircraft was met by medical teams to provide assistance to affected individuals,” the Doha-based carrier wrote.
It continued: “Qatar Airways is providing all passengers with meals and overnight accommodation in Bangkok and will continue the flight to Denpasar tomorrow (May 11). We regret any inconvenience this has caused to our passengers. The safety and security of our passengers and crew remains our top priority.”
