American Airlines Flight 206 left Miami at 3 p.m. yesterday. The Boeing 767 was carrying 192 passengers and a crew of 11 and was heading to Milan.
According to passengers, the turbulence began about three hours after the plane took off while it was heading north up the eastern coast of the United States. An hour later, the plane dropped and rolled to one side.The turbulence was described as “brief but severe.” The seat belt sign was on and those injured, including flight attendants who were standing, were all at the back of the aircraft.
The plane made an emergency landing, arriving at St. John’s International Airport at 9:45 p.m. local time. Paramedics and several ambulances were waiting on the tarmac. The injured, including three flight attendants and four passengers, were taken off the plane on stretchers and transported to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s. None of the injured suffered life-threatening injuries.
The pilot, Capt. Bertrand Lecocq, said the turbulence was most likely caused by the remnants of the major storm that hit the east coast of the U.S. late last week.
Panic ensued when the plane dropped and rolled. Passenger Karen Case told CBC when the plane rolled, everything went flying. “I really thought that was it,” she said.
Jordan Case described the scene as being like in a movie. There was screaming and crying as flight attendants helped the injured and tried to calm everyone down. Oxygen masks were lowered and some people passed out.
A spokesperson for American Airlines said, “We are taking care of our passengers and crew and we are working on getting them safely to their destination.” Passengers and the crew were put up in St. John’s hotels and are expected to fly to Milan tonight.
As the turbulence occurred in American airspace, the incident will be investigated by American authorities.
