Several passengers sustained injuries aboard a JetBlue flight traveling from Mexico to New Jersey due to a control issue, according to the airline.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported that JetBlue Flight 1230, an Airbus 320, had taken off from Cancun International Airport, Mexico, and was en route to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey when the crew noted a flight control problem.
The aircraft made an unscheduled landing in Tampa, Florida, around 2:19 PM ET.
JetBlue stated that the plane experienced a sudden altitude drop, prompting medical personnel to meet the flight upon landing to assess passengers and crew. Those requiring further medical attention were taken to a local hospital.
The airline has not yet disclosed the number of injured individuals or the severity of their injuries.
However, the pilot communicated to air traffic controllers that at least three passengers were hurt, including one person who possibly suffered a head laceration.
Flight data shows the plane took off, reached an altitude of 35,000 feet, which it maintained for about half an hour before it descended at Tampa International Airport.
The plane was removed from service for inspection, and the airline said it will conduct a full investigation to determine the cause.
JetBlue Flight 1230 – an Airbus 320 – departed Cancun International Airport in Mexico and was headed to New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport when it landed around 2:19 p.m. ET at Tampa, Florida . The FAA is investigating. (Pictured: A JetBlue plane)
Several passengers have been injured on a JetBlue flight from Mexico to New Jersey after the plane suffered a control issue, the airline has said. The flight path is shown above
The flight is now expected to depart from Tampa at 2.35am, arriving at Newark shortly after 5am, Mexican journalist Jose Luis Morales reports.
‘The safety of our customers and crewmembers is always our first priority, and we will work to support those involved,’ JetBlue said.
The incident comes just one week after another JetBlue plane made a U-turn mid-flight after a ‘non-compliant’ passenger was reportedly being ‘verbally abusive’.
Video from the flight, which was en route to Las Vegas from Boston on October 20, shows two Massachusetts State Troopers escorting a male passenger, with a backpack and a suitcase, off the plane.
The troopers said they were notified at 10pm that JetBlue Flight 777 was returning to the gate because of the disruptive passenger.
But those who were onboard the plane have since come to the defense of the removed passenger, with one witness calling the entire incident ‘ridiculous.’
The altercation was allegedly caused because of a miscommunication over a seat, the witness said.
‘I was on this flight and so were many others, and we could all tell you that the passenger was not being verbally abusive at all,’ they wrote.
‘The flight attendant was on a power trip and this was a total overreach of power. The person in question was buckled up never raise his voice, never swore was not drunk – he was sober.
‘This was such an inconvenience for so many people. Everyone just jumps to conclusion based on nothing in the comment section,’ they added.
The witness also told the Daily Mail the passenger was ‘compliant’ and ‘had done nothing’.
Video from another JetBlue flight obtained by the Daily Mail shows two Massachusetts State Troopers escorting a male passenger off the plane
The flight from Boston to Las Vegas departed around 8pm on October 20, but had to make a U-turn after a ‘non-compliant’ passenger was reportedly being ‘verbally abusive’
Another witness who claimed to be sitting one row away from the removed passenger said the flight attendant was ‘on a straight power trip.’
‘The passenger who was removed, never raised his voice, never even unbuckled his seatbelt following take off,’ they wrote on Facebook.
They claimed the flight attendant got mad when he found out the interaction was recorded and the passenger threatened to report him to JetBlue corporate.
‘I along with many other passengers on this flight will be filing complaints with JetBlue in regards to the action of this crew member.’
Police did not release the passenger’s identity, but said a 37-year-old male from Louisville, Kentucky is being summonsed to appear for interference with a flight crew.
Earlier this month, a female passenger onboard a JetBlue flight also tried to open the emergency door when she heard a common airplane noise she thought was a sign the plane was malfunctioning.
The passenger was filmed pacing the aisle of the JetBlue aircraft as it prepared to take off, pleading with flight attendants to ‘stop the plane’.
She said she was on the phone with her boyfriend, whom she claimed was a pilot, and that the sound was ‘not normal’.
Alarmed fellow passengers appeared to block her from getting to the emergency exit, and one claimed she ‘tried to open the door’ before the video started.
The sound she was unnerved by is the well-known ‘barking dog’ noise of the Airbus A320 power transfer unit.
The PTU automatically balances hydraulic pressure between the plane’s systems, usually during the takeoff and landing process.
A woman was so freaked out by a common airplane noise she thought was a malfunction and tried to open the emergency door, other passengers claimed
The woman believed the noise meant the plane was ‘broken,’ meaning she was likely unfamiliar with the A320 aircraft as Boeing planes don’t make the sound.
Flight attendants confronted with woman and were eventually able to reassure her that the plane was functioning normally.
Once the situation was resolved, the plane took off and is said to have completed its journey without incident.
