Seven people on board a Lufthansa flight from Texas to Germany were taken to hospitals on Wednesday after the plane experienced “significant turbulence” and diverted to a Washington, DC area airport, officials said.
A Washington D.C. Airports Authority spokesperson said Lufthansa Flight 469 was en route from Austin to Frankfurt when it encountered turbulence and landed at Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.
The agency said the plane landed safely at the airport at 9:12 p.m.
Lufthansa said the Airbus A330-300 experienced short but severe turbulence 90 minutes after takeoff.
“Lufthansa regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers. The safety and well-being of passengers and crew members is a top priority for Lufthansa at all times,” the airline said in an emailed statement.
The FAA said the crew reported encountering severe turbulence around 37,000 feet, while the plane was over Tennessee. The FAA said it would investigate.
The authority said seven passengers were taken to hospitals.
1 passenger for NBC Washington That flight attendant who was serving drinks when the plane went down.
“He was literally standing and serving drinks, so he had no way of getting himself ready,” Jazz Cantibody told the station. “On one of the drops, he hit the ceiling completely and completely and fell completely horizontal.”
Actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, were on board.
Camilla McConaughey he said on Instagram that the plane had fallen nearly 4,000 feet, that “everything was flying all over the place”, and that turbulence apparently kept coming up.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News that the couple was on the flight, and said it was a frightening experience for everyone.
Turbulence by the National Weather Service Describe As the erratic movement of air caused by vertical eddies and currents, it sometimes sends passengers to hospitals and forces unexpected landings.
In December, 25 people were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight after a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu experienced turbulence. Eight people were infected in June during a flight from Florida to Tennessee that was diverted to Alabama.
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