A plume of smoke billowed vertically within the seconds earlier than a Hawaiian Airways flight hit extreme turbulence final month, injuring 25 folks on board, in keeping with a preliminary report by the Nationwide Transportation Security Board.
The captain from The flight of December 18 from Phoenix to Honolulu informed investigators that flying circumstances had been good, with clear skies, when cloud rushed in entrance of the airplane and it did not have time to vary course, the report mentioned.
He known as the lead flight attendant and informed her there is perhaps turbulence. Inside one to a few seconds, the airplane “encountered extreme turbulence,” the report mentioned.
Shortly thereafter, the chief flight attendant informed the crew that there have been a number of accidents within the passenger cabin.
Of the 291 passengers and crew on board, 25 had been injured, together with 4 passengers and two crew who had been critically injured, the report mentioned. The airplane suffered minor injury.
Tiffany Reyes, one of many passengers taken to hospitals, mentioned the subsequent day that she had simply returned to her seat from the lavatory and was about to lock her seat belt when the flight went down.
Right away, Reyes mentioned she discovered herself on the hallway flooring, observing collapsed ceiling panels and a cracked rest room signal hanging.
“I requested everybody round me, ‘Was that me?'” Reyes mentioned. “They mentioned it seemed like I flew into the ceiling and hit the bottom.”
Reyes mentioned he initially thought one thing had hit the airplane and it was taking place and so they had been going to die as a result of he had by no means skilled something so violent on a flight.
“That is probably the most terrifying expertise I have been by means of in my 40 years of life,” Reyes mentioned.
Hawaiian Airways Chief Working Officer Jon Snook mentioned on the time that such turbulence was uncommon, noting that the airline had not skilled something prefer it in latest historical past. The seat belt signal was on on the time.
