Nine people were injured on board a flight headed to Hong Kong yesterday morning, after their plane encountered an unexpected spell of severe turbulence.
The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong was around half an hour away from Hong Kong International Airport when it encountered the turbulence, but managed to land safely at around 10 a.m.
Several passengers and at least two cabin crew members were injured as the seat belts signs had not been active before the incident. According to passengers, people and objects were thrown upward against the cabin ceiling as the airplane shook violently.
“The pilot was telling us in the broadcast that we would be arriving in Hong Kong in 30 to 40 minutes. When he was still talking, I started to feel the turbulence. It felt like we were in free fall,” one passenger told the South China Morning Post.
“The man next to me did not have his seat belt fastened. He hit the ceiling […] the seat belt sign was not on at the time and so some people were also in the toilet.”
According to police reports, the nine injured were aged between 31 and 55 and just one of them had refused to be sent to the hospital.
Meanwhile, a KLM spokesperson told the SCMP that the airline “will assist the [injured] passengers and crew members.”
“We are also taking care of the other passengers as it might have also been a frightening experience for them,” the company representative added.
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