FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 6 (UPI) — An Allegiant Air jet made an emergency landing after severe turbulence injured three passengers and four flight attendants, an ordeal that passengers called terrifying.
Allegiant Flight 7001 from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to Pittsburgh was diverted to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
“I thought, ‘the plane’s going down, and I’m going to die.’ It was like the plane’s falling out of the sky,” Malachi Witt said in a phone interview with Pittsburgh Trib Live from Florida.
Witt, 34, a software engineer, was vacationing with his wife, Erica Larsen, 34. They were among the 137 passengers and crew of six aboard the flight, airline officials said.
Witt said he has no plans to fly on a plane again anytime soon. He rented a car to visit friends in Orlando and then will drive to Pittsburgh.
Several passengers returned to Pittsburgh International Airport on the same plane that arrived about 11 p.m. Thursday.
“It was an experience, I tell you,” Gisela Arrow, 72, said. “I’m so happy to be alive. I’ve been on many flights. This was unreal.”
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said seven people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The injuries range from bruises, lacerations, facial fractures, to a head injury. Of the seven injured, none were life threatening,” said Mike Jachles of the sheriff’s Department of Fire Rescue.
Allegiant officials said the crew experienced severe turbulence about 240 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, at an altitude of 36,000 feet.
The Airbus A319, chartered by Las Vegas-based Allegiant, was operated on behalf of Apple Vacation.
UPI
An Allegiant Airbus A319-100, registration N301NV performing flight G4-7001 from Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) to Pittsburgh,PA (USA) with 137 passengers and 6 crew, was enroute at FL360 over the Atlantic Ocean about 290nm eastsoutheast of Ft. Lauderdale,FL (USA) at about 13:45L (17:45Z) when the aircraft encountered turbulence causing injuries to three passengers and two flight attendants. The flight crew decided to divert the aircraft to Ft. Lauderdale for a safe landing on runway 28L about 50 minutes later. The injured were treated at the airport.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue reported they treated two flight attendants and two passengers for minor head injuries and a diabetic passenger for minor injuries.
The airline confirmed three passengers and two flight attendants received minor injuries in a clear air turbulence encounter, the crew decribed the event as an unreported moderate turbulence.
The Aviation Herald
