Dozens Of JetBlue Passengers And Crew Members Were Injured During Severe Turbulence

A JetBlue flight headed from Boston to Sacramento was diverted to Rapid City, South Dakota after hitting severe turbulence which caused injuries to multiple passengers and crew members.

Twenty-two passengers and two crew members from Flight 429 were sent to the hospital upon landing and have since been discharged, reported South Dakota’s KELOLAND television. According to passenger Chris De Vries, who spoke with reporters in Rapid City: “Suddenly the plane dropped and anything not fastened down flew into the air, including laptops … Soda was sprayed on the ceiling. Then two flight attendants asked if a doctor was on board.” In the above YouTube clip, one passenger told reporters that she felt like she was in a “tower of terror.” Others recalled witnessing a flight attendant who hit her head on the plane’s ceiling and sustained multiple injuries.

One passenger, Derek Lindahl, chronicled part of his experience on Twitter, mentioning that a woman in front of him had no seat belt on and was at least two feet off her seat. “I literally grabbed her out of the air to hold her to her seat,” he wrote. He also maintained a sense of humor throughout the ordeal and praised JetBlue staff and Rapid City first responders for maintaining professionalism and, of course, for helping the passengers finally reach their destination, albeit a bit later than they had initially planned.

Twitter user Rhonda Renee also posted this photo from inside the airplane.

(Via CBS, CNN, KELOLAND Television & NPR)