Passengers including children hit their heads against the cabin roof and others were violently thrown from their seats when a JetBlue plane hit such severe turbulence, it plunged ’50 stories like an out of control elevator’.
Horrified passengers say they saw people ‘floating’ and ‘bouncing’ around and hitting the cabin so hard, they left dents in the roof and overhead compartments.
The flight from Boston to Sacramento was forced to divert to an airport in Rapid City, South Dakota during the mid-air drama that left 24 people – 22 passengers and two flight attendants – needing medical help.
ABC News reported that a spokesman for Rapid City Regional Hospital said 24 people from the flight were treated and released, all with minor injuries.
He also said there was damage to the inside of the plane, including cracks in the overhead bins.
Passengers praised JetBlue crew and emergency service son the ground in Rapid City. Mr Lindahl said: ‘Even though all flight crew were injured in some way, as far as I know, they all maintained their calm and never cracked.’
In a statement, JetBlue said: ‘The flight diverted to Rapid City, South Dakota, and arrived safely at the gate at approximately 7.30pm local time.
‘JetBlue care team members are being sent to assist injured customers, and a replacement aircraft is en route to Rapid City for customers continuing on to Sacramento’.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:patch.com)
