After experiencing severe turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu, at least 36 people have been injured, 11 of them seriously.
One passenger claimed that they were “pretty much floating off of our chairs” when the shaking got so bad.
Twenty people were transported to nearby hospitals with head injuries, lacerations, bruising, and loss of consciousness.
At the time of the turbulence, there were reports of thunderstorms in the area.
The US National Transportation Safety Board announced on Monday that it is conducting an investigation into the incident.
There were 278 travelers and 10 group on board the Airbus A330-200.
The incident that occurred on Flight HA35 took place early on Sunday morning, just as the aircraft was about to land at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
The following is a statement from Hawaiian Airlines: Clinical consideration was given to a few visitors and team individuals at the air terminal for minor wounds while some were quickly shipped to nearby clinics for additional consideration.”
Three crew members and approximately 17 passengers were transported to the hospital. A 14-month-old child and a young person were among them.
Jon Snook, chief operating officer of Hawaiian Airlines, stated that “it looks like everybody is going to survive” and that he was “grateful” for the assistance that was provided by emergency services.
He went on to say that Hawaii’s unstable weather had recently presented difficulties for airlines.
According to a passenger who spoke with Hawaiian television station KHON2, the severe turbulence only lasted a few seconds but was severe enough to cause injuries to passengers.
“It was only rough. Jacie Hayata Ano stated, “And then, it quickly just escalated to the point where it was, like, so much shaking that we were, like, pretty much floating off of our chairs.”
She continued, “That’s pretty surreal” because “you could see people were hurt around us and things are just everywhere.”
Before the plane is put back into service, the airline stated that it was conducting a “thorough investigation” of it.