“The ceiling’s broken from people’s heads and bodies hitting it.”
Nosedive
A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner “nosedived” while traveling from Australia to New Zealand, the Associated Press reports, resulting in at least 50 injuries. According to local authorities, 13 passengers were taken to a hospital and one is in serious condition.
The flight’s operator, Chilean multinational airline LATAM Airlines, has since said that the plane nosedived due to a “technical event,” but didn’t elaborate further.
“The plane landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” the company said in a statement.
But getting there was a nightmare for passengers. One circulating video shows a chaotic scene, with passengers being treated while lying in the center aisle.
“The ceiling’s broken from people’s heads and bodies hitting it,” passenger Brian Jokat told ABC News. “Basically neck braces were being put on people, guys’ heads were cut and they were bleeding. It was just crazy.”
“I did think for a split second: ‘This is it’,” he told the BBC.
Hitting the Roof
It’s yet another incident involving Boeing’s airliners, adding to the company’s already considerable woes following several technical issues plaguing the aerospace giant.
Over the weekend, a Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing after an engine ingested some bubble wrap. Last week, a Boeing 777-200 lost a tire after takeoff, destroying a car.
And in January, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost a “door plug,” triggering a “violent explosive decompression event.” The pilots were forced to return to the Portland, Oregon, airport.
Boeing has issued a statement in light of the latest incident, noting that officials were still trying to work out what happened.
“We are working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customer,” Boeing said.
LATAM Airlines has said that it “deeply regrets any inconvenience and discomfort this situation may have caused its passengers.”
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