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The Aviation Herald published this photo of damage to the plane cabinA burst of sudden ultra-turbulence hurled screaming passengers around an aircraft cabin last week, breaking a woman’s nose on the ceiling and injuring 11 other travellers.

If ever there was an example of why airline passengers should keep their seat belts fastened whenever seated, this is it.

Flight AR-1133 from Madrid to Buenos Aires, an Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus A330-200 with 271 passengers and 13 crew aboard, hit sudden violent turbulence over the Atlantic approaching the coast of Brazil.

Twelve passengers were injured. The flight last Tuesday (18 October 2022) continued to Buenos Aires for a safe landing about six hours later, the Aviation Herald recorded. Nine passengers were treated at the airport for minor injuries and three were taken to hospital.

Three photos posted on Twitter by the aviation news and media website Aviação TV show the cabin looking trashed after the incident and a female passenger with medical dressings applied to her nose. Clicking on the link in the tweet below will give you the pictures:

Spanish daily newspaper El País said the aircraft suffered damage to the cabin “due to the collision of the passengers’ heads with the ceiling”. It said fallen suitcases, trays and the remains of drinks were strewn across the floor of the plane.

Passenger Adrián Torres told El País a passenger who unbuckled her seatbelt for a short time hit her head on the ceiling and broke her nasal septum (the bone and cartilage that separates the left and right airways of the nasal cavity, dividing the two nostrils).

A Daily Mail report said the flight turned into pandemonium, “with passengers, most of whom had been sleeping, panicking and food and drinks trolleys thrown around”.

Passengers fumbling for seatbelts or those who were unbuckled at the time hit the ceiling, the outlet reported.

Impacts from turbulence trashed the aircraft galleys and damaged the ceiling panelling.

The airline stated: 

Aerolineas Argentinas reports that as a result of severe turbulence on flight AR1133 from Madrid, which landed at Ezeiza airport at 4:30, nine passengers had to be treated with various minor injuries. They were immediately released by airport health. While another three had to be transferred for more exhaustive control.

According to what was reported by the crew, the seat belt indicator signs were on and the corresponding announcement had been made. The passengers who were the most compromised and who were the ones who had to be transferred were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the turbulence.

The event occurred over the Atlantic Ocean entering the American continent and the plane, an A330 with registration LV-FVH, was carrying 13 crew members and 271 passengers. The evaluation of the aircraft did not show significant damage to its structure.

Written by Peter Needham

 

 

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