Severe turbulence injures over 30, diverts Air Europa flight to Brazil | EUROtoday

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More than 30 passengers had been injured on an Air Europa flight from Spain to Uruguay throughout extreme turbulence that passengers described as “terrifying” and likened to a “horror movie.”

The Montevideo-bound airplane diverted to Natal in northeastern Brazil due to robust turbulence, the airline stated in an announcement on X. “The plane has landed normally and those who sustained different types of injuries are already being treated,” it added.

More than 30 passengers had been handled for accidents, the native well being company stated in an announcement. Their staff, the assertion added, coordinated with consulates and representatives of passengers’ nations of Spain, Uruguay, Israel, Germany and Bolivia. The airline didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the character of accidents suffered by passengers.

Visuals shared on social media confirmed harm to the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner’s overhead compartments, panels and seats. Passengers chatting with native media described a terrifying scene because the airplane started to drop.

It was like a “horror movie,” one passenger advised Uruguay’s El Observador newspaper. Those not sporting seat belts had been thrown into the air, some hitting the roof, the newspaper reported.

“The sensation was terrifying, feeling like you were falling and that it was never going to end. And you were aware that you were falling at an incalculable speed. And you felt like it was going to end there, that you were going to die,” one other passenger advised the paper.

An Air Europa flight from Spain to Uruguay made an emergency touchdown in Natal, Brazil, on July 1 after encountering robust turbulence. (Video: Reuters)

“The pilots asked us to fasten our seat belts because there could be turbulence. They told us that it was a situation that they could not foresee on the radar,” passenger Larissa Gutierrez advised Novo Noticias, a Brazilian media outlet.

Turbulence can happen unexpectedly, the Federal Aviation Administration says, and could be brought on by atmospheric stress, jet streams, air round mountains, chilly or heat climate fronts or thunderstorms. Wearing a seat-belt and paying attention to flight security bulletins can scale back the danger of damage throughout turbulence, the company says.

Injuries from turbulence are comparatively uncommon, in response to FAA knowledge. In 2022, 17 folks suffered severe turbulence accidents; in 2021, there have been six, FAA says.

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In May, a 73-year-old man was killed and 18 others hospitalized when a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore encountered turbulence. Days later, a Doha-to-Dublin-bound Qatar Airways flight left 12 injured throughout turbulence.

The newest spate of incidents have led to questions over whether or not local weather change is growing the danger of turbulence on flights. While various research recommend a warming planet is more likely to create extra turbulence, specialists say that climate forecasters are getting higher at predicting it, which might help airways keep away from tough skies.

Ana Vanessa Herrero and Rachel Pannett contributed to this report.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/02/air-europa-turbulence-brazil/