Turbulence hits Qatar Airways flight to Dublin, injuring 12 people
Twelve people were injured during a Qatar Airways flight hit by turbulence while en route from Doha to Dublin on Sunday, officials said.
The flight QR107, which landed in Dublin just before 1 p.m. local time, experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey, Dublin Airport officials said in a statement. The aircraft was met by emergency personnel, including airport police and fire and rescue.
Six passengers and six crew members reported injuries from the flight.
"The Dublin Airport team continues to provide full assistance on the ground to passengers and airline staff," the statement said.
The airport did not provide details on the severity of the injuries.
This comes after a Singapore Airlines flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members was hit extreme turbulence in the Irrawaddy basin last week, hurling people and items around the cabin. The plane made a sharp 6000-foot descent in about three minutes, after which it diverted to Thailand. The drop came out 10 hours into the flight from London as the Boeing 777 finished crossing the Andaman Sea and approached the Thai coast. Thunderstorms were reported in the area.
A 73-year-old British man died of a suspected heart attack and dozens of passengers and crew members were injured, some critically. An investigation is underway.
Singapore Airlines has issued a deep apology over the incident. Its CEO, Goh Choon Phong, has pledged it will cooperate fully in the investigation and has visited those in the hospital to offer his support.
While turbulence is the most common type of accident involving air carriers, according to a 2021 National Transportation Safety Board report, deaths and serious injuries are rare.
But in July 2023, four people were injured by severe turbulence on a domestic U.S. flight in Florida.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that while the extreme turbulence that was experienced on the Singapore Airlines flight is very rare, "turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly."
"Our climate is evolving. Our policies and our technology and our infrastructure have to evolve accordingly, too. This is all about making sure that we stay ahead of the curve, keeping aviation as safe as it is," he told "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan. "It's not for nothing, that it became the safest form of travel in America. We've got to treat that not as some mission accomplished, but something you have to continually refresh to keep that safety record up."