iStockphoto
The latest reminder that flying as a form of travel is a giant pain comes in the form of a Air Europa flight from Madrid, Spain to Montevideo, Uruguay.
For many of the passengers on Air Europa flight UX045 the pain of flying was truly literal as three dozen of them were injured when the jet experienced some monumental turbulence early Monday morning.
According to the New York Times, “There were blood stains on an airplane seat and broken ceiling panels after severe turbulence forced an Air Europa flight to make an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil.”
Brazilian public health and airport officials reported 36 passengers were treated for injuries with 23 of them being taken to a hospital. Four of them remained in intensive care as of Monday evening.
The turbulence was so severe that several passengers on the Air Europa flight suffered head, neck and chest injuries.
“They announced that there was turbulence, and you had to put on your belt, but for about 20 minutes the turbulence was minimal. Then at one point people started to relax. There were people walking, people without belts. There were children sleeping without a belt,” passenger Evangelina Saravia told Telemundo.
“After 20 minutes of that minimal turbulence, like we entered an air pocket and we fell about 400 meters, I was told, at 1,000 kilometers per hour. The problem and what you see in the videos is that people got thrown from their seats and hit the roof, so the roof broke.
“A person was suspended between the plastic ceiling and the metal roof behind it, and they had to be lowered down. The same happened with a baby, I think a one-year-old, who hit the roof. From what I understand, they were without a belt.”
She said that she believes the man who got stuck in the ceiling was walking down the aisle when the turbulence began.
“He flew and got stuck in the roof, in the bin. We couldn’t find him,” passenger Romina Apai agreed, adding that once the turbulence came to a merciful end, “people fell on top of seats, on top of other people.”
“The first thing you heard was where the children were, because they were the first to get thrown from their seats,” Evangelina continued. “Everyone started trying to help each other, the hurt people, the kids. Personal items flew everywhere.”
“They [the airline and other officials] didn’t give us much of an explanation,” Romina added. “There are people who are still scared, but others are angry because we don’t know what happened.”