Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MADRID — Thirty passengers were injured after a flight from Madrid to Uruguay was hit by "strong turbulence" and had to make an emergency landing in Brazil, Spanish airline Air Europa said on Monday.
"Our flight UX045 bound for Montevideo has been diverted to the Natal airport (in Brazil) due to strong turbulence," Air Europa said in a post on the social platform X.
"The plane has landed normally and those who sustained different types of injuries are already being treated."
The aircraft hit by turbulence was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane has the capacity to hold up to 339 passengers, according to Air Europa's website.
"From one moment to the next, the plane destabilized and went into a dive. 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," one of the passengers, Maximiliano, told Reuters.
Another passenger, Stevan, told the news agency, "There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces, and legs. There are about 30 people injured. It was a pretty horrible feeling; we thought we were going to die there."
The Spanish airline said another plane was set to depart later on Monday from Madrid and pick up the passengers stranded in Brazil to continue their journey to Uruguay.
Air Europa added that anyone who is in need of health care is being treated in Brazil's Natal International Airport.
The news comes as the latest development in a string of bad publicity for the airplane manufacturer Boeing.
While there's no evidence so far that the injuries on the Air Europa flight had anything to do with a safety malfunction, Boeing has recently faced a series of whistleblowers alleging safety issues at the company.
