Passengers Injured In Turbulence, Diverted To Ft. Lauderdale
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- An Allegiant Air flight attendant hobbled out of the hospital Thursday night one of several people injured after the flight encountered severe turbulence 36,000 feet in the air.
Cellphone video shot by a passenger on that flight shows what happened after turbulence left four flight attendants and three passengers injured.
The video also shows one woman grimacing and another passenger holding a napkin on her head.
"All of a sudden the plane dropped, it just dropped and everybody flew in the air," said passenger Amanda Kuhn.
The flight was heading from the Dominican Republic to Pittsburgh but turbulence hit a few hundred miles from the Bahamas.
The airlines issued a statement on the matter saying:
"Flight 7001, charter service operated on behalf of Apple Vacations, from Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) was diverted to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) at approximately 1:37 p.m. EST after reports of severe turbulence and injuries to passengers. It has been reported that two flight attendants and two passengers sustained head injuries, and that a third passenger is diabetic."
The flight was diverted to Fort Lauderdale and the video shows even flight attendants weren't sure what would happen upon landing.
"I honestly don't know at this moment exactly what's going to happen so once this aircraft has come to a stop so just stay seated," the flight attendant on the speaker could be heard saying on the cellphone video.
Then applause from passengers as first responders came onboard to check out the wounded.
Passenger Amanda Kuhn took the video.
"People kept praying and that's all we could do at that point," Kuhn said. "The plane dropped. It just dropped.and everybody flew in the air that wasn't in a seatbelt."
She said her father was injured along with others.
"The flight attendant at the front of the plane I saw her go up and hit the top of the plane," Kuhn said.
Passenger Michelle Evans, a nurse, rushed to help whoever she could. "The employees sustained some injuries so myself, another doctor, another nurse were able to provide emergency care for them. We're just very grateful that the pilot was able to land and there weren't more serious injuries," she said.
Several people left the hospital Thursday evening. Earlier, CBS4 was first to speak to passengers after they cleared customs and were boarding a bus to another terminal.
"We were experiencing normal turbulence and suddenly the plane just was taking a nosedive. It felt like I was on a roller coaster just going straight down," said passenger Malachi Witt.
"It felt like I was gonna die. It was really scary," said another.
The majority of passengers boarded another flight that eventually got them to Pittsburgh. Others said they were going to rent a car and drive north, while some said they'd stay in South Florida and hope to find another airline instead.
