On January 7th, an Air Astana Airbus A321neo suffered turbulence flying from Tashkent to Almaty. This turbulence was so severe that seven passengers reportedly sustained injuries during the flight. The incident marks the third case in four months that Simple Flying has reported on that involves severe turbulence leading to injured passengers.

Incident details

According to The Aviation Herald, an Air Astana Airbus A321neo registered EK-KDF was performing flight KC128 from Tashkent (Uzbekistan) to Almaty (Kazakhstan). Sometime during this relatively short, one-hour service, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence.

Reported as "sudden strong turbulence," seven passengers received injuries "of varying degree," with no further details offered. However, based on the speed and altitude graph published by FlightRadar24.com, it's possible that the turbulence occurred 20-25 minutes after take-off, with the aircraft's speed varying followed by a drop in altitude.

speed and altitude graph
Photo: FlightRadar24.com

One individual commenting on The Aviation Herald report suggested that this could have been a result of mountain wave turbulence as the flight was flying in proximity of a mountain range. Mountain wave turbulence is a phenomenon which SKYbrary notes is caused by a disturbance in the horizontal airflow caused by high ground.

Air Astana A312neo flight path turbulence
Photo: FlightRadar24.com

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Severe turbulence in the news

This latest case of severe turbulence causing injuries to multiple passengers is the third such case reported by Simple Flying since late October.

On October 18th, Aerolíneas Argentinas flight AR1133 encountered severe turbulence which led to twelve passengers suffering injuries rated as severe. The flight, operated by an Airbus A330-200, was traveling from Madrid to Buenos Aires and had reached Brazilian airspace when the incident occurred. In this case, a number of passengers were taken to the local hospital in Buenos Aires for treatment and observation.

Much more recently, on December 18th, a Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-200 flying from Phoenix to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence around 30 minutes before landing. In this case, more than 35 people had to be treated by emergency responders after the plane landed. A mix of both passengers and crew members, and several of those onboard had injuries severe enough that hospital treatment was required. Indeed, video footage posted to Twitter showed a crew member strapped into a jump seat with a bloody forehead and playing cards strewn about the floor.

About the incident aircraft

The Air Astana Airbus A321neo with registration EK-KDF is one of 14 A321neos operated by the airline. EK-KDF was delivered to Air Astana in September 2019, initially registered as P4-KDF. Now approximately three-and-a-half years old, the narrowbody is fitted with 28 seats in business and 151 in economy.

Based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the aircraft flies to destinations such as Nur Sultan, Tashkent, Dubai, Aktau, and even Amsterdam (via Atyrau).

What do you make of this incident? Have you ever been on a flight that encountered severe turbulence? Share your experiences by clicking or tapping the blue button below and leaving a comment.

Sources: The Aviation Herald, Planespotters.net, FlightRadar24.com, SKYbrary