HONOLULU (AP) — Severe turbulence rocked a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu on Sunday, seriously injuring 11 people in what a Hawaiian Airlines official referred to as an remoted and weird occasion.
Jon Snook, the airline’s chief working officer, mentioned the airline hasn’t skilled “an incident of this nature in recent history.” The flight was full, carrying 278 passengers and 10 crew members, he mentioned throughout a day news convention.
Jim Ireland, director of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, mentioned 20 people had been taken to hospitals, including 11 people deemed to be in serious condition.
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This cell photograph courtesy of passenger Jazmin Bitanga reveals the inside of a Hawaiian Airlines airplane on its flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, after extreme turbulence rocked the flight. (Courtesy of Jazmin Bitanga through AP) -
This cell photograph courtesy of passenger Jazmin Bitanga reveals the inside of a Hawaiian Airlines airplane on its flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, after extreme turbulence rocked the flight. (Courtesy of Jazmin Bitanga through AP) -
This cell photograph courtesy of passenger Jazmin Bitanga reveals the inside of a Hawaiian Airlines airplane on its flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, after extreme turbulence rocked the flight. (Courtesy of Jazmin Bitanga through AP) -
This cell photograph courtesy of passenger Jazmin Bitanga reveals the inside of a Hawaiian Airlines airplane on its flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, after extreme turbulence rocked the flight. (Courtesy of Jazmin Bitanga through AP)
At least one particular person was reported to have been rendered unconscious, however all sufferers had been awake and speaking after they arrived at hospitals, he mentioned.
Patients suffered cuts, together with to the top, in addition to bumps and bruises. Some people had been nauseous and vomited on account of excessive movement, he mentioned. Altogether, 36 people obtained remedy.
“We are also very happy and we feel fortunate that there were not any deaths or other critical injuries. And we’re also very hopeful that all will recover and make a full recovery,” Ireland mentioned.
Snook mentioned three flight attendants had been amongst these taken to hospitals.
Jacie Hayata Ano was on board Hawaiian Airlines flight 35 touring dwelling for the vacations when the airplane started to shake violently.
“It was just rocky,” Hayata Ano mentioned. “And then, it quickly just escalated to, like, the point where we’re shaking so much that we were, like, pretty much like floating off of our chairs.”
She mentioned the extreme turbulence solely lasted a couple of seconds, however that was sufficient to injure a number of passengers. Photos from contained in the plane confirmed broken panels on the airplane’s overhead, presumably from passengers slamming into it.
She mentioned, “You could see, like, people were hurt around us and things are just everywhere as yeah that’s pretty surreal.”
Snook mentioned there was some inner harm to the plane throughout the turbulence. The seatbelt signal was on on the time, although a few of these injured weren’t sporting them, he mentioned.
Thomas Vaughan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, mentioned there had been a climate advisory for thunderstorms that included Oahu and areas that might have included the flight path on the time of the incident.
The airline was conscious of the climate forecast and the unstable air and climate situations, however had no warning the actual patch of air the place the turbulence occurred “was in any way dangerous,” Snook mentioned.
He didn’t understand how a lot altitude the airplane misplaced throughout the turbulence, saying that might be a part of an investigation involving the National Transportation Safety Board. The airplane’s flight information recorder would offer these particulars, he mentioned.
The investigation would additionally handle exactly what the passengers and crew had been doing on the time, he mentioned.
The Airbus A330-200 started its descent instantly after the turbulence, and the crew declared an emergency as a result of variety of accidents on board, he mentioned. Air site visitors controllers gave the flight precedence to land.
The plane will endure a radical inspection and upkeep, principally to repair parts in the cabin, Snook mentioned.
Snook mentioned he may solely speculate whether or not some passengers hit their heads, however that was seemingly based mostly on the accidents and the harm to cabin paneling.
“If you don’t have your seatbelt on, you stay where you are as the aircraft goes down, and that’s how those injuries occur,” Snook mentioned.
The investigation will study what different measures had been taken, except for turning on the “fasten seatbelt” signal, to make sure passengers had been buckled in, he mentioned.
In 2019, 37 passengers and flight crew members had been injured when (*11*) about two hours previous Hawaii. The Boeing 777-200 was diverted to Honolulu, the place the injured obtained remedy. Thirty people had been taken to hospitals, and 9 had critical accidents.
Over the Atlantic, a 2017 American Airlines flight from Athens hit severe turbulence alongside the New York shoreline. Seven crew members and three passengers had been injured.
Most people affiliate turbulence with heavy storms. But essentially the most harmful kind is so-called clear-air turbulence. The wind-shear phenomenon can happen in wispy cirrus clouds and even clear air close to thunderstorms, as variations in temperature and strain create highly effective currents of fast-moving air.
Planes can sail into clear-air turbulence with out warning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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