Air Europa plane hit by severe turbulence, passenger stuck inside overhead bin
As many as thirty passengers were injured after a flight belonging to Spanish airline Air Europa, which was travelling from Madrid to Uruguay, was hit by a 'strong turbulence'.
The flight made an emergency landing in Brazil.
Nuestro vuelo UX045 con destino a Montevideo se ha desviado al aeropuerto de Natal (Brasil) a causa de fuertes turbulencias. El avión ha aterrizado con normalidad y los heridos de diversa consideración que se registraron ya están siendo atendidos.
— Air Europa (@AirEuropa) July 1, 2024
"Our flight UX045 bound for Montevideo has been diverted to Natal airport (Brazil) due to strong turbulence. The plane has landed normally and the various injuries that were reported are already being treated," the airlines posted on X.
Man reportedly THROWN into overhead bin as Air Europa flight encounters severe turbulence.. 😲✈️
— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) July 2, 2024
Reports say at least 30 were injured before landing in Brazil. pic.twitter.com/fefvgHv2g3
A video has gone viral on social media where a passenger's head could be seen stuck inside overhead bins.
A passenger named Daniel Montañez told CNN he and his wife had been sleeping with their seat belts on when the turbulence hit and awoke to see some of their fellow passengers hitting the ceiling of the cabin and falling back down.
“People who did not have their seat belts unfortunately suffered consequences, injuries,” he said. “There were people broken, people on the floor, people screaming, people who felt bad, people bleeding … A rather chaotic image. As you can imagine, the nerves at that point start to play after you come to your senses about what happened, because at that moment you don’t really notice anything, only movements and madness.”
The airline earlier said in a social media post that those passengers who needed treatment were treated Natal.
Also Read:Singapore Airlines takes slew of measures after turbulence kills 1 passenger
"We are sorry for what happened and the inconvenience caused. We hope for a speedy recovery of the passengers. We will inform you of any other relevant information. We are available for any questions," the airline said.
The passengers later arrived in Montevideo on Tuesday morning at 07:20 a.m. local time.