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A passenger on board a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Sydney says travellers flew out of their seats when their plane was hit by “unexpected severe turbulence” halfway across the Pacific Ocean.
The Airbus A330, carrying 163 passengers and 12 crew members, landed without incident at Sydney Airport at 7.47pm on Friday, the airline said.
On board flight HA451, which hit severe turbulence over the Pacific.
Twelve people were inspected by paramedics when the plane landed. One passenger and three staff members were taken to hospital with injuries and back pain.
Melissa Matheson was on board with her husband and two children after a week’s holiday in Hawaii. She said the turbulence seemed to come out of nowhere.
“It was very, very smooth; there was nothing happening [before the turbulence],” she said. “And then just very unexpectedly and suddenly, we started to bump around just a little bit.
“And then it got bumpier and bumpier, and then it just dropped.
Melissa Matheson and her family were on board flight HA451 when it hit “unexpected severe turbulence” over the Pacific Ocean.
“The lady sitting in front of me … didn’t have her seatbelt on, and I saw her nearly hit the roof,” she said. “But thankfully her husband grabbed her. She was laughing her head off because she was in such disbelief.
“There were a lot of people who weren’t wearing seatbelts and so they just flew up,” she said.
Matheson said the mood on board changed quickly, and passengers cried and screamed in shock.
“I did see a couple of crew running back and forth with sick bags, probably because of the shock and the adrenaline rush of it,” she said.
File photo: A Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 plane flying from Honolulu to Sydney hit severe turbulence.
“It was a bit chaotic and then it was quiet. And it was human nature: everyone just looked after each other. You could see other passengers talking to other people, saying ‘Are you OK?’”
A doctor who was on the flight helped crew members to care for the injured. Several people, including a crew member, were given ice packs for their heads, Matheson said.
The plane’s captain informed the passengers that more turbulence was expected and that they should only move around the cabin if absolutely necessary.
There were claps and cheers when the plane finally touched down in Sydney.
In a statement, Hawaiian Airlines confirmed the turbulence.
“We conducted a thorough inspection of the aircraft before boarding HA452, which departed Sydney to Honolulu at approximately 10.30pm local time [on Friday],” it said.
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