Flight number DL56 of American airline Delta Air Lines, departing from Salt Lake City ( Utah) to Amsterdam (Netherlands), encountered a strong disturbance and severe shaking while serving dinner.
The Airbus A330-900 carrying 275 passengers and 13 crew members was forced to divert and emergency landing at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport ( Bang Minnesota) after nearly 2.5 hours of flight.
At the airport, medical staff urgently checked the health status of passengers and crew. 25 people, including seven members of the air team, were hospitalized for treatment and were discharged the next day. Passengers were arranged to continue flying to Amsterdam on a special flight that evening.
Passenger Leeann Clement-Nash said the strong shaking occurred suddenly, without warning, causing many people without seat belts to be thrown away, hitting the ceiling of the plane and falling to the floor. Food trucks and many items such as glass bottles and phones were also thrown away, causing injuries to many people.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Traffic Safety Committee have opened an investigation into the incident. According to experts, air disturbances are an unpredictable phenomenon that can occur even in normal weather, usually occurring at an altitude of about 4,500m.
Research in 2021 shows that about a third of aviation incidents in the US are related to air disturbances, many of which caused injuries but did not damage the plane.
