A Boston-trained orthopedic surgeon rushed to help passengers and the crew when a Jet Blue flight that originated at Logan International Airport encountered fierce turbulence, causing injuries to 22 passengers and 2 crew members.
JetBlue flight 429 took off from Logan at 5:25 p.m. enroute to Sacramento, according to flightstats.com. It arrived in Rapid City, S.D., at about 7:30 p.m., according to Katherine McMillan, a spokesperson for JetBlue Airlines. Passengers able to continue to California later boarded another plane to finish their journey.
Dr. Alan H. Lee, an orthopedic surgeon on Flight 429 who treated one flight attendant for injuries while still on the plane, said the flight had been turbulent, but normal, at least until a sudden drop.
“I was working on my laptop when the plane suddenly dropped,” Lee wrote in an e-mail to the Globe. “I don’t know how far it dropped, but all I recall is my laptop almost hit the ceiling, several other passengers hit their heads, and a bunch of the overhead bins popped open.”
According to Lee, the sudden drop in altitude was what caused all of the injuries.
“People were flying all over the place,” Lee said. “If people weren’t wearing their seatbelt, they hit their head on the ceiling.”
Crew members had been walking up and down the aisles, ensuring people were wearing seatbelts, Lee said. After the drop, two crew members “rushed to the front of the plane and the captain came out of the cockpit’’ and asked for medical help from passengers.
Lee, who trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s General Hospital and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, answered the call.
“I only attended to one of the flight attendants on board, and briefly checked the others when we landed,” Lee wrote. “I would describe the injuries as moderate lacerations and contusions, but unfortunately don’t know what further imaging/treatment they received at the hospital.”
Three flight attendants were standing the rear galley, according to Lee, when the drop sent all three “upwards [and] hitting the ceiling with enough force that it resulted in at least one hole in the ceiling tile.”
Other damage to cabin from the sudden drop included cracks to the overheard bins and, Lee said, one toilet “came completely undone.”
The flight landed in South Dakota within 15 minutes, he said.
Lee’s initial evaluation focused on identifying life-threatening issues, which he’s thankful were not present.
According to Lee, there were several children on board the flight, ranging in age from babies to elementary-age children.
JetBlue provided water for passengers once they landed in S.D., Lee said, and the airport provided blankets.
It would be between five and six hours before the replacement plane, sent from California, arrived to take the rest of the passengers to Sacramento.
Lee, who emailed from the connecting flight to Sacramento, said that in the 1.5 hours since boarding, he had yet to see anybody stand up.
“I think we’re all still a bit cautious,” Lee said.
JetBlue emailed an apology to flight 429 passengers early Friday morning, offering them a “a service credit in the amount of the roundtrip fare paid (excluding taxes and fees) or $200 whichever is greater.”
The Boston Globe
Turbulence on jetBlue flight injures 24
