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A Boeing encounters severe turbulence on its way from Madrid to Montevideo. The plane has to make an emergency landing in Brazil. There are numerous injuries.
Natal – An Air Europa flight from Madrid to Montevideo was forced to make an emergency landing at a Brazilian airport due to severe turbulence, the airline said on July 1. About 30 passengers, most with minor injuries, were taken to hospitals in Natal, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), after the plane was diverted early Monday morning.
The news website G1 reported that some passengers suffered broken bones and others hit their heads during the turbulence. At least four of them were still in hospital on Monday afternoon.
Strong turbulence: Boeing Dreamliner has to make emergency landing in Brazil
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner left Madrid at 11:57 p.m. on Sunday with 325 people on board and was scheduled to arrive in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo early Monday. At 2:32 a.m., flight UX045 requested an emergency landing at Natal airport in northeastern Brazil – 4,000 km from Montevideo.
Air Europa said on news portal X (formerly Twitter) that this was “the airport that was able to most quickly care for passengers with medical needs.”
There were “injured passengers of varying degrees of severity,” the airline said. The state health department said 40 passengers – from Spain, Uruguay, Israel, Germany and Bolivia – were treated in state hospitals.
Most of them were discharged after receiving medical treatment. Four were “stable” at Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel Hospital, where they awaited test results before being discharged. Five others were transferred to private hospitals. There is no information on their nationality or current health status.
Pictures from the emergency Boeing: X-user shares her impressions after turbulence
An X user who claimed to have been on the flight posted pictures of broken ceiling panels exposing pipes and cables.
At 1:12 p.m., Air Europa announced that the uninjured passengers would be taken to Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, 255 km from Natal, “where they will be accommodated and then continue on to Montevideo.”
Causes of turbulence in airplanes: Is climate change behind it?
The incident is one of a series of recent Boeing incidents. At the end of May, a 73-year-old Briton died and several other passengers and crew members suffered skull, brain and spinal injuries when a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore encountered turbulence and had to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
A week later, eight people were taken to hospital after turbulence on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Ireland. Scientists believe that radar-invisible turbulence in the open air is increasing due to the climate crisis.
Research from the University of Reading have shown that the higher temperatures resulting from the climate crisis have led to a significant increase in turbulence on transatlantic flights. Between 1979 and 2020, incidents of severe turbulence have increased, according to Smithsonian Magazine, increased by 55 percent, which is due to the change in wind speed at high altitudes. (dpa/ls)
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