Dozens of passengers on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu on Dec. 18 were injured after turbulence violently shook the plane about 30 minutes before it arrived to its destination.
Of the 36 people injured aboard the flight, 11 had serious injuries and 20 were taken to an area hospital, according to Honolulu EMS officials. The hospitalized patients, including one as young as a 14-month-old baby, were treated for head injuries, lacerations, bruising, nausea and loss of consciousness.
"Everybody was panicked," Jodette Neely, a passenger on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35, told TODAY. "There was panic."
Videos posted on social media showed chaos aboard the plane, with passengers' items strewn about the cabin. Neely said the plane was so erratic that the overhead bins popped open and things were "flying out."
"People were hitting their heads on the ceilings," Neely said. "I was grabbing the seat in front of me, the top of it to hang on, even though I had my seat belt on."
The FAA and Hawaiian Airlines said 278 passengers and 10 crew members were on board when the plane hit an unexpected patch of rough turbulence, but the aircraft was able to land safely around 10:50 a.m.
A "mass casualty emergency" was triggered upon arriving at Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, sending dozens of firefighters and EMS crews to meet the aircraft at the gate.
"There was no warning of this particular patch of air at that altitude was in any way dangerous," Jon Snook, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Hawaiian Airlines, said during a press conference. "It caught everybody by surprise."
Passengers described the incident as the most turbulent flight they had ever been on.
"The plane shook and it went into a sudden drop, like how you would go into a drop on a roller coaster," Kaylee Reyes told Hawaii News Now.
Reyes added her mother had just sat down when the turbulence began and didn't have a chance to buckle her seat belt. "She flew up and hit the ceiling," Reyes said.
Jazmin Bitanga told Hawaii News Now her boyfriend's water bottle flew up and hit the ceiling so hard it left a crack on the top of the plane.
"My life flashed before my eyes," Bitanga said. "I was scared."
Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement it was continuing to support the injured passengers and crew members.
“We apologize to our guests for this incident and thank our crewmembers, first responders, hospital personnel, and airport teams for their coordinated response,” Hawaiian Airlines said. “Hawaiian is conducting a thorough inspection of the aircraft before returning it to service.”
Snook said the airline's investigation into the incident is ongoing. The FAA has also opened an investigation to determine what happened.
