36 People Injured After 'Severe Turbulence' on Hawaiian Airlines Flight: 'There Was No Warning'
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Anna Lazarus Caplan
Mon, December 19, 2022 at 8:58 AM EST·2 min read
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/36-people-injured-severe-turbulence-135807377.html
Thirty-six passengers were injured – including 11 seriously – when a Hawaiian Airlines flight encountered "severe turbulence" Sunday morning.
Authorities met the plane when it landed shortly before 11 a.m. at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu and treated the injured passengers, which included a 14-month-old baby, KHON 2 reported. Twenty people were transported to nearby medical facilities, the outlet added.
"Hawaiian Airlines is continuing to support the 17 passengers and three crew members who sustained injuries today after Flight 35 from Phoenix to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence," the airline said via a statement late Sunday about the incident, which occurred about 30 minutes before landing.
The Airbus 330, carrying 278 passengers, eight flight attendants and two pilots was at an altitude of about 36,000 feet when it hit a pocket of unstable air, sending unbuckled passengers and unsecured objects airborne, according to multiple reports.
RELATED: Two Flight Attendants and Six Passengers Injured After Flight Hits Sudden Severe Turbulence
"Injuries occur because the aircraft goes down and if you don't have your seat belt on, you stay where you are," Jon Snook, Hawaiian Airlines Chief Operating Officer explained during a news conference Sunday afternoon in Hawaii.
He also confirmed that three flight attendants were among those taken to the hospital.
Emergency responders told KHON 2 that injuries included lacerations, bruising, loss of consciousness and at least one serious head injury.