Air Europa passengers have recalled the terrifying moments they experienced during a bout of extreme turbulence that left 30 injured.
A Uruguayan man was among 325 passengers on board flight UX 045 traveling from Madrid to Montevideo that was diverted to Natal, Brazil on Monday when it encountered turbulence so rough it left some travelers with head, face and spinal injuries.
Cell phone footage recorded by one of the travelers showed two men pulling him from the overhead compartment.
And earlier this week, a mother on the same flight described her horror at watching her two-year-old son get flung from his seat to get trapped in the ceiling above.
Now, another passenger who was ejected has come forward to regale their horror.
The man, who did not reveal his name, told the Channel 10 program Subrayado: ‘We assume it was an air hole because the plane dropped for a while and then righted itself. We flew (out of the seats). I broke the ceiling and all of the plumbing that was inside.’
A passenger told Uruguayan television network Channel 10 that ‘flew’ out of his seat and found himself in the Air Europa aircraft’s ceiling. Two passengers were able to lower him from the area above the overhead baggage area. But when he made it to the ground, he noticed that his wife and two women were on the ground injured. Despite the terrifying experience, he intends to fly again.
Cecília Laguzzi was traveling with her husband and their two children when she woke up and found her two-year-old son (seen sitting on her lap) inside the Air Europa aircraft’s ceiling
A man is lowered from the overhead compartment area after he got thrown into the aircraft’s ceiling after it was hit by turbulence during the course of its flight from Madrid to Montevideo, which caused the captain to request permission for an emergency landing
He recalled supporting himself from the damaged overhead bin area until he made it back to the floor and noticed that his wife and two female passengers were injured and strewn across the floor.
He added he thought about ‘everything’ when the plane started to decline and that ‘a world went through his head in 20 seconds.’ He said his wife was ‘beaten’ by the ‘very painful’ incident.
The shocked passenger estimated that Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner went through turbulence for 30 seconds as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean.
‘Horrible, right?’ he said. ‘Those are things that happen.’
Bolivian doctor, Cecília Laguzzi, told Brazilian news outlet G1 that she was traveling with her husband and two children when she woke up and found the youngest, a two-year-old, trapped in the ceiling.
‘Part of the plane collapsed and the child was up there crying. My husband had to go and bring him back down,’ she said.
The flight landed around 2:30 am local time at Natal International Airport, where paramedics were already awaiting on the ground.
At least 30 passengers were rushed to area hospitals in Natal and received treatment for abrasions or orthopedic traumas.
A further six passengers remained hospitalized in with severe injuries, Air Europa said in a statement.
Passengers on Air Europa flight UX045 await to deplane after the aircraft carrying 325 travelers landed in Natal, Brazil. At least 30 passengers were treated for injuries, but six remain hospital in Brazil
A male passenger is helped out of the overhead bin after he was ejected from his seat when an Air Europa flight from Spain to Uruguay encountered turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean
Passengers deplane Air Europa flight UX045 in Natal, Brazil after Monday’s emergency landing
First responders wait near the runway to assist passengers as they deplaned from the Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that made an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil after it was hit by severe turbulence during its flight from Madrid to the Uruguay capital city of Montevideo
A second passenger Maximiliano, who withheld his last name, told Reuters that the aircraft started to plunge.
‘From one moment to the next, the plane destabilized and went into a dive,’ he said. ‘The people who didn’t have seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, and they got hurt – those who had seat belts on, not so much.’
Air Europa dispatched a replacement aircraft Monday to take the passengers to Montevideo.
However, the passengers had to travel 192 miles by bus, which were provided by the airline, to Recife International Airport.
The new plane departed Tuesday and landed at Carrasco International Airport at 7:20 am local time.
A female passenger told Uruguayan news outlet Montevideo Portal that the customers have set up a WhatsApp group chat to go over plans to file a lawsuit against Air Europa.
‘Beyond the fact that accidents can happen, and it could be that the turbulence did not appear on the radar, etc., etc., the issue was everything afterwards, which was very poorly managed: from when the plane began to fall until we got on the plane from Recife to Uruguay,’ she said.
She indicated that first responders had difficulties entering and exiting with the stretchers and wheelchairs that were required to remove the injured passengers.
The entire process took four hours before the rest of the passengers, who were not injured, were allowed to deplane.
The passengers boarded a different Air Europa on Tuesday for their trip back home to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay
A seat on Air Europa flight UX045 was severely damage as a result of turbulence
First responders treated passengers from Air Europa flight UX045 at Natal International Airport after the aircraft landed at 2:30 am on Monday
The Air Europa incident took place less than two months since one passenger died and dozens were hurt when turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore.
Some scientists have warned of worsening turbulence tied to climate change.
The most common cause of turbulence is the unstable weather patterns that trigger storms, which can be detected by weather radar, allowing pilots to fly around potential patches.
Recent incidents have increased concern in the air travel industry about seat belt and safety practices.
An international agreement, the Montreal Convention, makes airlines liable for physical injuries from accidents on international flights, which can include turbulence, regardless of whether they were negligent.