Fourteen people were hurt — including one crew member who suffered a “severe injury” — after an Air India flight suddenly plummeted 300 feet mid-air.
The Airbus A320 aircraft was flying from Phuket, Thailand to Delhi, India when it hit significant turbulence, sending passengers and crew flying around the cabin before the plane miraculously landed safely at its destination at 11 a.m. local time Tuesday.
“The aircraft seemed to be moving normally but suddenly the turbulence began. I saw my sister thrown into the air from her seat. My mother was knocked on her head. My phone fell,” one shaken female passenger told Asian News International [ANI].
“People sitting behind me suffered injuries,” she added. “A male passenger had blood on his face. We thought we would die. It was really scary. I was shaking and crying.”
Another passenger, who is planning to take legal action against Air India, said that the incident occurred about 90 minutes after takeoff.
The mid-air nightmare happened just over a year after London-bound Air India flight 171 crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat, killing all 241 people on board, except for one sole surviving passenger.
Another 19 people were killed and scores more injured on the ground.
Those hurt in the massive drop Tuesday were taken to the New Delhi airport’s medical facility, sources told the Indian Express.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is investigating the incident, confirmed that the pilot reported a “severe injury” to one cabin crew member.
Video from the airport shows one patient being wheeled out on a gurney and loaded into an ambulance with a head injury.
Air India said in a statement that the flight experienced a “brief in-flight turbulence-related event during cruise, resulting in a momentary change in altitude” but said none of the injuries were serious.
“A small number of passengers and crew members with minor injuries requiring medical assessment have been taken to a medical facility at the airport for precautionary examination and care by Air India’s airport team and medical personnel,” the airline told the Indian Express.
“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain Air India’s highest priority.”
Air India did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for additional information.
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