Lufthansa's flight crew told passengers to delete video footage of severe turbulence, according to a report by Insider. The news comes more than a week after the severe turbulence forced Lufthansa's Airbus A330 aircraft to make an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in the United States.Shortly after the incident, photographs appeared on social media showing dozens of food trays and cutlery scattered around the cabin floor. According to the report, at least two passengers were told to delete all the images and videos they had of the incident. Simple Flying has asked Lufthansa for a comment.
Lufthansa’s Flight LH469
On March 1st, Lufthansa's flight LH469 took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and was en route to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Germany. Approximately 90 minutes into the flight, the airline's Airbus A330-300 jet, registered as D-AIKK, experienced unexpected severe turbulence above Tennessee/West Virginia and was forced to divert to IAD airport.
According to FlightAware data, after being hit by the turbulence, the A330-300 descended from 37,000 ft to 24,000 ft and remained at that altitude while diverting IAD airport. The German flag airline has not indicated what has caused the turbulence.
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Turbulence is not uncommon in the world of flying. However, the fact that seven people had to be transported to the hospital shows the severity of this incident.
Simple Flying reported earlier that some passengers who weren't wearing seatbelts were said to have hit the roof of the cabin. Other passengers onboard the aircraft reported that there was "broken glass" everywhere. Meanwhile, another passenger recalled that the aircraft went into "free fall".
Rolanda Schmidt, one of the injured passengers, shared that as the aircraft descended to land, a flight attendant said "delete all your pictures and videos" on the speaker. The attendant then reportedly made a second announcement with a similar message. The implication was that the move would protect the privacy of other passengers. However, Schmidt expressed that is not how the request came across.
A similar incident on the same day
A similar incident occurred after another German carrier, Condor, experienced turbulence while flying from Frankfurt to Mauritius. The Airbus A330neo encountered turbulence approximately two hours before reaching its destination, resulting in injuries to 20 passengers.
In addition, damage sustained during the incident left the aircraft on the ground in Mauritius for an extended period of time.
Check out our guide on the different kinds of turbulence.
Source: Insider, FlightAware
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Lufthansa
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- LH/DLH
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1953
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- Airline Group:
- Lufthansa Group
- CEO:
- Carsten Spohr
- Country:
- Germany
