At least five people went to the hospital after experiencing “severe turbulence” on a United Airlines flight headed to Houston on Monday morning.
United Airlines flight 128 was arriving from Rio de Janeiro and touched down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at around 5:30 a.m., a public information officer told CNN.
“The flight experienced severe turbulence that resulted in five passengers being transported to the hospital once it landed in Houston,” the officer, Augusto Bernal, said.
According to United, the injured included two passengers and three crew members.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the plane — a Boeing 767 — reported experiencing turbulence as it traveled over Cancun, Mexico. The agency is currently holding an investigation and is supposed to release an initial accident report this week.
The incident comes after a similar situation occurred on a Hawaiian Airlines flight on Sunday, resulting in 20 people going to the hospital. In total, 36 people on the Hawaiian Airlines flight were hurt. The plane touched down at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on Sunday morning. Eleven people were admitted with serious conditions, while nine others were stable.
“Injuries included a serious head injury, lacerations, bruising and loss of consciousness,” Shayne Enright, a Honolulu Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman, said, per The New York Times.
“We are also very happy and we feel fortunate that there were not any deaths or other critical injuries,” Jim Ireland, director of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, said.
“It’s the holidays, everybody’s trying to come here for vacation or come back home,” he added. “It’s generally a time when people are happy. And so this is obviously something that they didn’t plan for in their journey here.”
Jon Snook, the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Hawaiian Air, told reporters that the “fasten seatbelt” sign was illuminated when the incident took place.
“Sometimes, these air pockets occur with no warning. It’s rare to have that level of extreme turbulence. It was a very extreme case of mid-air turbulence,” Snook said. “We’re very thankful the extent of the injuries was not critical. It could have been worse.”