The new normal and what happens when seatbelts are not attached throughout a flight
The Air Europa flight from Spain to Uruguay had to be diverted to Brazil.
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Published Jul 01, 2024 at 4:31 PM EDT
About of severe turbulence on an Air Europa
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner left 30 people injured with varying degrees of severity on Monday.
Flight UX045, en route to Montevideo, Uruguay, from Madrid, Spain, made an emergency landing at Natal Airport in northeastern Brazil at 2:32 a.m. local time, according to Zurich Airport Brasil.
"Our flight bound for Montevideo was diverted to Natal due to strong turbulence," Air Europa said in a statement. "The plane landed normally, and those injured are already being treated."
A video circulating on social media shows sections of the airplane's ceiling panels torn off, oxygen masks dangling above passenger seats, and at least one seat with severe damaged. Another video shows a passenger being rescued from the overhead luggage compartment. It was not immediately clear how the passenger got into the bin.
Mariela Jodal, a passenger, said on X that there were "several injuries" due to "very strong turbulence." She emerged uninjured, attributing her safety to having her seatbelt fastened, unlike other passengers who ended up on the ceiling.
Images she uploaded to the platform show panels in the upper part of the cabin removed, with pipes and other internal parts of the plane visible.
"Those who did not have a seatbelt flew and some remained hooked to the ceiling. It lasted about 3.5 seconds," said Norys, a Venezuelan passenger living in Uruguay, to local newspaper
El Observador.
"A long time after that, there was very slight turbulence, barely felt, and suddenly, the plane abruptly falls and we all rise."
The health secretariat from the government of Rio Grande do Norte state said that 30 passengers had been taken to hospitals in Natal with minor abrasions or orthopedic traumas.
The airline added that the plane "will remain under inspection" to determine the extent of the damage. Another aircraft was scheduled to leave Madrid on Monday afternoon to pick up passengers in Natal and continue the journey to Montevideo.
On May 21, a 73-year-old British man named Geoff Kitchen died after a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore
encountered severe turbulence. The Boeing 777-300ER, en route as flight SQ321, experienced a sudden and dramatic descent of 6,000 feet over three minutes, causing significant injuries among passengers and crew members.
That incident added to global concerns over airline safety and whether turbulence could become a growing threat to commercial aviation. Severe turbulence is rare and often avoidable but recent studies have shown that climate change could be increasing the risk.
In March 2024, another Boeing aircraft, a
787-9 Dreamliner operated by LATAM Airlines, experienced severe turbulence during a flight from Sydney to Auckland, resulting in 50 passengers injured, some of whom were thrown from their seats.
Boeing's safety practices are facing increasing scrutiny following a series of alarming incidents involving its planes. These include a high-profile incident where a door panel on an
Alaska Airlines 737 MAX jet blew off midair over Oregon.
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