Dozens of people were injured on Monday when a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 suddenly plunged mid-flight.
The flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, experienced “a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement,” the airline said in a statement.
Approximately 50 people were injured in the incident, with ten passengers and three cabin crew members needing to be taken to the hospital. One patient was listed in “serious condition,” while the rest had mild to moderate injuries, The Washington Post reported.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority,” the airline added. “LATAM is providing affected passengers with food and accommodation services due to the flight cancellation. LATAM deeply regrets any inconvenience and discomfort this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a top priority.”
Multiple ambulances were on scene when the plane landed at Auckland International Airport at its originally scheduled time.
Passenger Brian Jokat said that some passengers were thrown into the ceiling of the plane with such force that it broke parts of the cabin upon impact. The entire ordeal only lasted a few seconds, he said.
“The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, throwing down the aisles,” he said. “Some of the roof panels were broken from people being thrown up and knocking through the plastic roof panels in the aisle ways. And there was blood coming from several people’s heads.”
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Another passenger said the crew was so severely injured that they were unable to help any injured passengers.
Boeing, which has seen its brand significantly damaged in recent years due to two plane crashes and several planes that had manufacturing issues, said it was “working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customers.”
The news comes as United Airlines experienced multiple flight emergencies last week, ranging from a tire falling off a plane to flames shooting out from an engine during flight.