Fifty people have been treated by ambulance crews and 13 people are in hospital after an in-bound aircraft to Auckland experienced a “strong movement” mid-flight that reportedly saw passengers suddenly thrown about the plane.
In a statement, Hato Hone St John Ambulance said the organisation responded to an incident at Auckland International airport involving an inbound aircraft after a call at 3.58pm local time on Monday.
Five ambulances, a major incident support team vehicle, two rapid response vehicles and a number of senior personnel were dispatched to treat passengers who had been injured on the flight.
Their crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one person in a serious condition, and most with moderate to minor injuries. Thirteen people were transported to Middlemore hospital by ambulance.
One passenger said that the plane suddenly “just dropped out of the sky” about two hours into the three-hour flight, and that passengers were thrown out of their seats, in some cases hitting the ceiling.
“The whole plane is screaming. The plane then started taking a nose dive and I was just thinking ‘OK this is it, we’re done’,” passenger Brian Jokat told local media outlet Stuff.
Radio New Zealand reported that a passenger on board the flight, Jacinto, said there was a “mid-air drop”.
“People got pretty injured,” he said. A number of passengers were not wearing their seatbelts at the time, he said.
“People were really scared as well.”
The Latam airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland had encountered a “technical problem” that caused “strong movement”, a spokesperson for the South American airline said in a statement to the New Zealand Herald.
The flight was making a scheduled stop in New Zealand on its way to Santiago, Chile.
“The plane landed at Auckland airport as scheduled. As a result of the incident, some passengers and cabin crew were affected. They received immediate assistance and were evaluated or treated by medical staff at the airport as needed,” the Latam spokesperson said.
“Latam regrets the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards.”
The Guardian has contacted the airline and Auckland airport for comment.
