Fourteen people were injured, among them a crew member who reportedly sustained a “severe injury,” after an Air India aircraft abruptly dropped about 300 feet during a turbulent flight.
The Airbus A320 was traveling from Phuket, Thailand, to Delhi, India, when it encountered powerful turbulence that jolted the cabin and threw some passengers and crew from their positions. Despite the mid-air scare, the plane landed safely in Delhi at around 11 a.m. local time on 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 visibly shaken female passenger told Asian News International [ANI].
“People sitting behind me suffered injuries,” she said, recalling the panic inside the cabin. “A male passenger had blood on his face. We thought we would die. It was really scary. I was shaking and crying.”
A second passenger, who said he intends to pursue legal action against Air India, claimed the frightening episode unfolded roughly an hour and a half after the flight departed Phuket.
The terrifying turbulence incident comes just over a year after Air India flight 171, bound for London, crashed moments after departing Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat, killing 241 people on board and leaving only one passenger alive.
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The crash also killed 19 people on the ground and left many others injured.
Following Tuesday’s sudden drop, injured passengers and crew were taken to a medical facility at New Delhi airport, 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.
