10 in hospital after ‘terrifying’ turbulence on American Airlines flight to Philadelphia
Flight from Greece was hit by wild turbulence shortly before landing in the US, throwing passengers, crew and debris crashing into plane’s ceiling
An American Airlines flight from Greece to Philadelphia was hit by “severe turbulence” just before landing, injuring at least 10 people, the airline said.
The three passengers and seven crew members injured in Saturday’s flight from Athens were taken to a hospital for treatment.
“I was looking forward and I just saw everything just move upward about 4 feet,” passenger Alex Ehmke told NBC News. “So, I saw drinks, you know, flying up against walls and up on the ceiling.”
The airline said Flight 759 – carrying 287 passengers and a dozen crew members – briefly encountered severe turbulence shortly before landing. American said the fasten seat belt sign was on at the time.
Ehmke’s wife, Jessica Huseman, a ProPublica reporter on the flight, tweeted that a flight attendant had dislocated his shoulder during the incident.
“No warning at all. Plane lurched thru the air. Honestly, terrifying,” she said in a separate tweet. “Some passengers are injured as well.”