A severe turbulence incident on an Air Europa flight from Spain to Uruguay forced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to divert early Monday morning. The flight, en route to Montevideo, had seven people injured and an “unspecified number” of passengers received minor bruises, according to the airline’s statement. Images posted on social media show damage to the cabin’s ceiling panels.
Passengers on board described a terrifying incident in which a person appeared to be stuck in an overhead bin due to the turbulence. Romina Apai and Evangelina Saravia shared their stories about the person who got trapped in the damaged cabin roof. Medical services attended to injured passengers after the plane landed in Natal, Brazil.
This incident marks the latest in a series of cases involving severe turbulence in recent months. In May, a 73-year-old Singapore Airlines passenger died due to turbulence, and 12 people were injured on a Qatar Airways flight just a few days later. Serious injuries from turbulence are rare, with fewer than 12 people seriously injured by turbulence each year on average between 2009 and 2022, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.