SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – Dozens of passengers on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam were injured Wednesday amid significant turbulence that forced the plane to divert to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
Twenty-five people were sent to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment after the aircraft landed at MSP at approximately 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“They hit the ceiling, and then they fell to the ground,” Leann Clement-Nash said. “And the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground, and people were injured. And it was, it happened several times, so it was really scary.”
“The gentleman two seats down from me, he had a gashed wound in the top of his head,” added passenger Adam Nash. “I myself was crunched by my laptop, and hurt my own ribs and caused myself some damage. … I ended up going to the hospital after that.”
Clement-Nash said it was hard to recall specific moments from the ordeal, but remembered being told the plane had “went up about 500 feet and then dropped 1,500 feet” during the turbulence.
“So there was a point where we were weightless,” she said.
Medical personnel were waiting to meet the flight when it arrived to evaluate both passengers and crew, according to the airline.
“We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved,” Delta said in a statement. “Safety is our No. 1 value at Delta, and our Delta Care Team is working directly with customers to support their immediate needs.”
Serious injuries from in-flight turbulence are rare, but scientists say they may be becoming more common as climate change alters the jet stream.
A man was killed when a Singapore Airlines flight hit severe turbulence in May 2024, the first person to die from turbulence on a major airline in several decades.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
