A turbulence on an Air Europa flight left at least 30 injured in the early hours of Monday (1st). The plane, with 325 passengers on board, was heading from Spain to Uruguay and had to make an emergency landing at Natal Airport.
The flight, originally from Madrid to Montevideo, was not scheduled to stop in Natal. The plane involved was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Zurich Airport Brasil, the operator of Natal Airport, reported that the aircraft requested an emergency landing at 2:32 a.m. Initially, there was a mistake in the information about the origin of the flight, which was corrected minutes later to confirm that it departed from Spain, not the Netherlands.
Air Europa explained that the diversion to Natal was due to the severity of the turbulence and for safety reasons.
The SAMU Metropolitano confirmed that it attended to at least 30 passengers, of various nationalities, and more than 10 of them were taken to hospital. The injured suffered head impacts during the turbulence, resulting in cervical fractures, facial injuries, and chest pain.
According to the airline, seven passengers had injuries of varying degrees, as well as others with unspecified minor bruises. The injured were taken to the Monsignor Walfredo Gurgel Hospital in Natal.
