30 injured in bumpy Hainan Airlines flight
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 12, 2015
Thirty people, including both passengers and crew members, were injured on a bumpy flight from Chengdu to Beijing on Tuesday, when an aircraft was caught in strong turbulence during descent.
![Thirty people, including passengers and crew members, were injured on a bumpy flight from Chengdu to Beijing on Tuesday, when an aircraft was caught in strong turbulence during its descent.[Photo/weibo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20150812/7427ea210acc1734f3191a.jpg "Thirty people, including passengers and crew members, were injured on a bumpy flight from Chengdu to Beijing on Tuesday, when an aircraft was caught in strong turbulence during its descent.[Photo/weibo]") |
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Thirty people, including passengers and crew members, were injured on a bumpy flight from Chengdu to Beijing on Tuesday, when an aircraft was caught in strong turbulence during its descent.[Photo/weibo] |
The Hainan Airlines plane, flight HU7148, experienced strong turbulence at an altitude of 4,200 meters after it had already started descending, but managed to land safely at Beijing Capital International Airport at 2:17 p.m., said a company statement released soon after the incident.
Of the 30 people who were injured, 23 remained hospitalized for further examination and observation while the other seven did not need any medical treatment as they only suffered minor injuries.
Hainan Airlines said the cause of the bumps was "pending investigation" and Lin, an injured passenger on the flight said many on board were not wearing their seatbelts, and they bounced immediately.
"We heard two alarms at around 2:00 p.m. which were immediately followed by weightlessness. I didn't buckle up, so I was directly thrown to the ceiling and landed on the row behind us," Lin said.
Another passenger shared the experience on her Weibo account named "PhotoByJade" said it was the worst turbulence she had encountered in years of flying. "I was really scared seeing the injuries in the back rows and hearing the passenger announcement mixed with the air stewards' tearful voices," she wrote.
While the investigation is still ongoing, it is too early to rule whether the pilots made any errors. Industry insiders said that bumps could occur at any altitude and in any weather conditions, including in clear sky, in the case of the Hainan Airlines flight.
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