Passengers onboard a Lufthansa flight from Austin to Frankfurt suffered a major scare after the plane experienced severe turbulence. Seven passengers were taken to hospital after the flight made an emergency landing in Washington D.C.
Severe turbulence on Lufthansa flight
On Wednesday, March 1st, Flight LH469 took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) at 17:08 local time en route to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) before encountering turbulence above Tennessee/West Virginia. The plane, an Airbus A330-300 (registration: D-AIKK), flew through an "unanticipated" storm pattern, leading to scores of passenger injuries. Data from FlightAware shows the aircraft descended from 37,000ft to 24,000ft and remained at that altitude while diverting to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), where it landed safely at 21:10 local time.
As reported by the Washington Post, passengers were enjoying their inflight meals when the turbulence struck, sending meals, cutlery and other detritus flying around the cabin. Some passengers who weren't wearing seatbelts were said to have hit the roof of the cabin, while the turbulence continued for several minutes before leveling off.
Lufthansa said in a statement that the flight "encountered brief but severe turbulence about 90 minutes after takeoff," with pilots deciding to make "an unscheduled landing at Washington Dulles International Airport as a precautionary measure."
Seven go to hospital
While it isn't uncommon for one or two people to get by a wayward bag during turbulence, the fact that seven people had to be transported to hospital shows the severity of this incident. Images on social media show dozens of food trays and cutlery scattered around the floor, while another passenger reported there was "broken glass" everywhere, which would explain why several passengers had injuries bad enough to require hospital treatment.
Check out our guide on the different kinds of turbulence.
One passenger told the Washington Post that "food went flying into the air, hitting and even damaging the ceiling of the plane," adding that the person sitting in front of them was heavily bleeding and had to be taken off the plane in a wheelchair.
FAA to investigate
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will conduct an investigation into the incident and will likely look at why the flight ended up flying straight into a severe storm pattern. The agency, along with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), has been pushing for increased turbulence observation sharing and modernizing the Pilot Report system.
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Simple Flying readers may recall the incident onboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight in December, which saw 36 passengers injured after a bout of severe turbulence. On that occasion, around 20 of the passengers made the trip to the hospital following its safe arrival in Honolulu.
Were you onboard Lufthansa flight LH469 from Austin to Frankfurt on March 1st? Have you ever been involved in a serious turbulence incident? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Washington Post, FlightAware