Twelve injured after plane hit by severe turbulence on way to Dublin
Six passengers and six crew members were injured.
A dozen people have been injured after a flight was hit with turbulence on a flight between Doha and Dublin.
Six passengers and six crew members were injured during the Qatar Airways flight, which landed safely as scheduled just before 1pm.
The plane was met by police and the fire service and Dublin Airport says they ‘provide full assistance on the ground to passengers and airline staff’.
Eight of the injured people were taken to hospital.
In a statement, an airport spokesperson said: ‘Qatar Airways flight QR107 from Doha landed safely as scheduled at Dublin Airport shortly before 13.00 on Sunday.
‘Upon landing, the aircraft was met by emergency services, including airport police and our fire and rescue department, due to six passengers and six crew [12 total] on board reporting injuries after the aircraft experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey.
‘The Dublin Airport team continues to provide full assistance on the ground to passengers and airline staff.’
The spokesman confirmed that the return flight to Doha is expected to fly as normal, although slightly delayed, and that other flights at Dublin Airport were unaffected and continued as normal throughout the afternoon.
One of the passengers on the flight, Paul Mocc, told Irish broadcaster RTE that he saw people ‘hitting the roof’ and food and drink going everywhere.
He said he saw crew members limping around afterward with bandages on but he said they did a really good job of continuing the flight service.
In a statement Qatar Airways said ‘a small number of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries in flight and are now receiving medical attention’, adding: ‘The matter is now subject to an internal investigation.’
It comes just days after 73-year-old Geoffrey Kitchen died when the flight he was taking from London to Singapore was hit by severe turbulence.
He’s believed to have suffered a severe heart attack when the Singapore Airlines flight plunged 7,000ft in just six minutes, and his wife is still in hospital.
According to the National Weather Service, turbulence is the ‘irregular motion of the air resulting from eddies and vertical currents’.
In many cases, turbulence is light, causing just a few bumps.
In all, around 65,000 flights encounter moderate turbulence every year, and about 5,500 encounter severe turbulence, according to the National Centre for Atmospheric Research.
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