Air Europa passengers recount turbulence ordeal: ‘we thought we were going to die’
- Flight UX045 from Spain to Uruguay was diverted to Brazil after encountering severe turbulence that left about 40 people injured
Passengers from an Air Europa flight diverted to northeastern Brazil due to severe turbulence on Monday said they feared for their lives during the incident which injured around 40 people, four of whom were taken to intensive care units.
“There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces, and legs,” one passenger said in the Brazilian city of Natal, where flight UX045 from Madrid to the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, made an unscheduled landing just after 2.30am (local time).
“It was a pretty horrible feeling. We thought we were going to die there,” said the man, Stevan, giving only his first name.
Another passenger, Maximiliano, said the plane – a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with 325 passengers on board – had suddenly started to plunge.
“From one moment to the next, the plane destabilised and went into a dive,” he said. “The people who didn’t have seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, and they got hurt – those who had seat belts on, not so much.”
Air Europa said in a statement on Tuesday that six people were still in hospital in Natal and were being assisted by ground personnel from Brazil and Spain.
“Air Europa deeply regrets what happened, as well as the inconvenience caused to its customers. The airline hopes for a speedy recovery of the affected passengers and is at the disposal of all its customers to assist them,” the airline added.
