Terrifying aftermath of severe turbulence on flight as passenger left wedged in overhead locker

2 July 2024, 09:28 | Updated: 2 July 2024, 17:10

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Passengers onboard a flight from Spain to Uruguay were flung into the ceiling during severe turbulence, with one person being pulled out of an overhead luggage bin.

Around 30 people were injured after ‘severe’ turbulence hit the flight, which was on its way to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, from Madrid.

Flight UX45 made an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil, where 15 ambulances rushed to the scene to treat those who were injured.

Passengers suffered a range of injuries, including cervical fractures, facial injuries and chest pains.

“The public health secretariat has attended to several victims of an air incident,” a spokesperson for the Rio Grande do Norte government said.

“Multiple victims [were] attended to by the emergency and urgency network,” they continued in a statement made on Monday.

Read More: Injured Singapore Airlines air turbulence passengers offered $10,000 in compensation

Read More: Singapore Airlines turbulence flight that left Brit dead 'dropped 54 metres in four seconds'

The airline, Air Europa, initially said seven people were injured, but Brazilian media updated the figure to 30.

This includes a sailor from Galicia, who suffered four broken ribs, Sur in English reports.

According to witnesses onboard the plane, a number of those who were injured were not wearing seatbelts when the turbulence struck.

The plane reportedly plummeted for a few seconds, causing extreme turbulence.

Another passenger said: “The sensation was one of terror, feeling that you are falling and it doesn't end. And you are aware that you are falling at an incalculable speed.

“You felt that it ended there, that you were dying. Until we started to see on the screen that the plane started to go up".

Another passenger added: “More than turbulence, we plummeted for eight seconds. There were also children flying".