Several people were hospitalized Friday morning after a New York City-bound flight from Colombia was diverted to Miami International Airport due to severe turbulence, according to officials.
Avianca Flight 42 departed from Medellín and was en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport when it encountered unexpected turbulence, a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement. It was diverted to Miami “as a precautionary measure and in accordance with the airline’s safety protocols” and “landed safely” at 3:30 a.m. Friday, the statement added.
The airline said three crew members and six passengers were impacted, though the extent of their injuries was not known. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said they responded to “multiple patients injured by turbulence,” and eight people were taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Witnesses recount terrifying ordeal
“We thought it was the end for us,” said Pilar, a passenger on the flight who did not want to disclose her last name. “It was incredibly intense — something I’ve never experienced in my life.”
She said there were at least three very strong bouts of turbulence.
“It was a calm flight. We had been like a little more than an hour and a half flying, everything normal. The flight attendants passed by with refreshments, and they distributed to like 80% of the plane,” Pilar said. “So we were all awake, like finishing eating… when from one moment to another, a terrible drop. The flight attendant went flying.”
Pilar said people without seat belts also went “flying,” and ended up with cuts on their heads. They applied ice given to them by the crew, Pilar said.
Cellphone video from inside the plane appears to show people with those ice packs as they’re instructed to keep seat belts on.
Flight data from FlightRadar24 shows the Airbus A320 climbed to around 36,000 feet as it flew over Cuba before making a sharp descent — dropping around 25,000 feet in minutes — about 3 hours into the flight.
Another passenger, Maria Paula Jimenez, said that as the plane was descending toward the airport, she could see a sea of flashing lights on the tarmac.
“There were six or seven ambulances all lit up, and actually, our son said it looked like a light show because there were so many first responders waiting for us,” Jimenez told Telemundo 52.
Avianca said the remaining passengers were being assisted by the airline’s airport team to make necessary arrangements so they can continue their journey to New York City. But for at least one passenger, she’d prefer to return home.
“I don’t want to go out. I only want to go back home,” said fellow passenger Diana, who did not share her last name. “What I can tell you is you value your life so much more when something like that happens.”
Aviance said it remains in contact with the affected passengers and crew members.
“The safety of our customers and employees remains, and will continue to be, the fundamental pillar of our operation,” it added.