US: Turbulence injures 5, forces United flight to land in Louisiana

By Katrina Jones Jun 14th, 2012 ( No Comment )

Five people were hospitalised after Turbulence forced a United Airlines flight bound for New York’s LaGuardia Airport to land shortly after takeoff.

CNN reports that Flight 1632 took off from Bush Intercontinental around 8pm on Tuesday, experienced severe turbulence and diverted to Lake Charles about a half-hour later.

Lake Charles Regional Airport Executive Director Heath Allen told CNN affiliate KPLC that three of the injured were members of the flight crew. There were two pilots, three flight attendants and 76 passengers aboard.

Flight attendants were preparing to serve drinks about 30 minutes into the flight. “Right about that time, we hit some really severe turbulence, and … several people flew up and hit the ceiling of the plane and then were immediately slammed down to the floor of the plane,” CNN affiliate KPLC quoted first class passenger Jeff Hornback as saying.

“I heard both the pilot and a flight attendant say that they had been flying for 20 or 30 years and had never seen anything like what they saw today,” he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.