On Wednesday (28 August) an incident occurred with a Boeing 737 of the airline United Airlines. On flight UA-1196 from Cancún, Mexico, to Chicago, Illinois, the aircraft According to the news channel CNN over New Orleans, Louisiana, encountered severe turbulence. These unexpectedly strong air movements caused the aircraft to make abrupt changes in altitude and direction.
Boeing 737 encounters turbulence on flight to Chicago
The difficulties arose when the plane was at an altitude of 34,000 feet (FL340) about 80 minutes after takeoff. The plane was then diverted to Memphis, Tennessee, where it landed safely about 50 minutes later. According to the industry service “Aviation Herald”, there were 172 passengers and seven crew members on board.
Seven people were injured, one person was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and six other injured people refused treatment. The airline stated that the seatbelt signs were on at the time of the incident. The incident is being investigated by the FAA to determine the exact circumstances and cause.
Several incidents in recent months with turbulence
This is the latest case of Turbulence on commercial flights in recent months, including a Singapore Airlines flight in May in which one passenger was killed and 71 people were injuredafter the aircraft encountered severe turbulence.
Last week, two crew members were injured on an EasyJet flight from Corfu, Greece, to London when the plane encountered sudden turbulence, authorities said. And earlier this month, Korean Air flight KE197 from the South Korean capital Seoul to Ulaanbaatar experienced severe turbulenceas the aircraft, an Airbus A330-300, crossed Chinese airspace. During the incident, ten passengers and four crew members were injured. (jag)