sTurmoil always shook Journey out Phoenix to Honolulu Sunday, 11 people were seriously injured in Ma Hawaiian Airlines An official called an isolated and unusual event.
John Snook, the airline’s chief operating officer, said the airline had not experienced “an incident of this nature in recent history.” He said during a press conference in the afternoon that the flight was full with 278 passengers and 10 crew members on board.
Jim IrelandHonolulu’s director of emergency medical services said 20 people have been taken to hospitals, including 11 who are considered to be in serious condition.
He said at least one person had been reported to have lost consciousness, but all of the patients were awake and talking when they reached the hospitals.
Patients suffered cuts, including to the head, as well as bruises and bruises. He said some people developed nausea and vomiting as a result of the excessive movement. A total of 36 people received treatment.
“We are also very happy and feel fortunate that there were no fatalities or other serious injuries. We also hope that everyone will recover and make a full recovery,” Ireland said.
Snook said three flight attendants were among those hospitalized.
passenger Kylie Reyes She told Hawaii News Now that her mom had just sat down when the turbulence hit and she didn’t have a chance to fasten her seatbelt.
“It just flew up and hit the ceiling,” Reyes said.
Snook said there was some internal damage to the aircraft during the turbulence. He said the seat belt sign was on at the time, though some of the injured were not wearing one.
There was a weather warning for thunderstorms
Thomas VaughanThere was a weather warning in place for thunderstorms that included Oahu and areas that could have included the flight path at the time of the accident, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu said.
Snook said the airline was aware of the forecast and the unstable weather conditions, but did not warn that the patch of weather where the disturbances occurred “was in any way dangerous.”
He didn’t know how much altitude the plane lost during the turbulence, saying that would be part of an investigation involving the National Transportation Safety Board. He said the plane’s flight data recorder would provide those details.
He said the investigation would look specifically at what the passengers and crew were doing at the time.
He said the Airbus A330-200 began descending immediately after the turbulence occurred and the crew declared an emergency due to the number of casualties on board. Air traffic controllers gave priority flight to landing.
Snook said the plane will undergo extensive inspection and maintenance, mostly to repair components in the cabin.
Snook said he could only speculate whether some passengers hit their heads, but that was likely based on injuries and damage to cabin panels.
“If you don’t have your seatbelt on, you’ll stay put as the plane goes down and that’s why these injuries happen,” Snook said.
He said the investigation would look at other measures that were taken, apart from opening the fasten seatbelt sign, to ensure passengers were tethered inside.
In 2019, 37 passengers and flight crew were injured when an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney experienced severe turbulence about two hours from Hawaii. The Boeing 777-200 was diverted to Honolulu, where the injured received treatment. Thirty people were taken to hospitals and nine were seriously injured.
Over the Atlantic, a 2017 American Airlines flight from Athens experienced severe turbulence along the New York coast. Seven crew members and three passengers were injured.
Most people associate turbulence with severe storms. But the most dangerous kind is the so-called clear air turbulence. Wind shear can occur in fluffy cumulonimbus clouds or even clear air near thunderstorms, where differences in temperature and pressure create powerful currents of fast-moving air.
Planes can navigate clear turbulence without warning.
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