At least 24 people were taken to hospital after the JetBlue flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Sacramento, California, had to put down at Rapid City in South Dakota. In an email to the Globe, Dr. Alan H. Lee, an orthopedic surgeon on Flight 429, said his laptop almost hit the ceiling when the turbulence caused a sudden drop in altitude.
Advertisement
The turbulence was so bad that there were reportedly cracks in the overhead bins.
The plane, an Airbus320, can accommodate between 150 and 189 passengers.
Medical, workers’ compensation and liability insurance companies are likely on alert today as a JetBlue flight was forced to divert in South Dakota after severe turbulence. Lynam says people were “thrown around like little rag dolls” in the cabin.
“People were floating”, recalled passenger Rhonda Lynam, according to ABC News.
All the victims were treated for minor injuries and have been released from the hospital.
Passengers described the incident as everything from feeling like a “giant hand hit the plane” to “an elevator, 50 stories high” losing control.
He also said he’d overheard that “a wild weather pocket caused a downdraft” that caused the plane to “fall 3000-4000ft (900m-1200m) in one shot”.
A replacement aircraft flew to Rapid City to transport passengers to Sacramento.
Advertisement
The flight eventually resumed early Friday morning and eventually landed in Sacramento just before 4:30 a.m.
