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24 injured, as JetBlue flight makes emergency landing in South Dakota

A woman who was among the 146 passengers on a JetBlue flight that was diverted to South Dakota due to awful turbulence says the scene inside the aircraft was “like a movie”. “It was just normal – if you fly a lot…it just kind of shakes and then it’s okay”, one passenger of Flight 429 told South Dakota Public Broadcasting Station 429.

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The Jetblue flight from Boston to Sacramento was forced to divert to an airport in Rapid City, South Dakota during the midair drama that left 24 people – 22 passengers and two flight attendants – needing medical help.

She said the seatbelt sign was on when turbulence rocked the plane. Dr. Alan H. Lee, an orthopedic surgeon, wrote in to the paper to describe the experience, which involved the kind of insane turbulence flight attendants warn you about when they tell you to fasten your seatbelt.

He said one woman in front of him rose a metre in the air because she wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He grabbed her to hold her to the seat.

He also said there was damage to the inside of the plane, including cracks in the overhead bins. Lynam says people were “thrown around like little rag dolls” in the cabin.

“People were floating. All of a sudden, it was as if you’re on an elevator, 50 stories high, and it goes out of control”. JetBlue said 122 of the passengers completed their trip Friday morning, landing in Sacramento more than seven hours after their scheduled arrival.

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Reports and passengers are calling the incident a “bad dream” after some people had serious injuries and had to be taken to the Rapid City hospital by ambulance, including two crew members.

24 people injured following turbulence on JetBlue flight