Lufthansa’s flight from Austin to Frankfurt hit severe turbulence on Wednesday, diverting to Washington Dulles airport and sending seven passengers to the hospital.
Passengers on board the Airbus A330 were screaming on board flight 469 as they were taken by surprise and food and personal items went flying through the cabin. Those that were injured didn’t have their seat belts fastened – understandable because the turbulence was unexpected, but underscoring the advice to keep seat belts fastened when seated even when the seat belt sign is off.
A passenger on the flight said the plane went into “free fall” as the dinner service was getting underway. The passenger, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern that Lufthansa would not provide compensation, said people and food “went flying into the air, hitting and even damaging the ceiling of the plane.”
Someone in the seat in front of the passenger was “badly hurt” with blood spattered over their seat, the passenger said. The injured person was wheeled off the plane in a wheelchair, the passenger said.
My wife was on that flight she sent this pic This is what the inside looked like food everywhere, people who didn't have the seat belts fastened got hurt mostly cause it came as surprise without seat belt sign on and lighting hit the plane badly went 1k ft down & up pilot said pic.twitter.com/NJi2JC6shk
— Stryker Fadhel (@ModerMuna) March 2, 2023
Due to many news outlets asking for permission to use this picture my wife texted me and said everyone is permitted to use the pictures and this small video you may reach her on whatsapp at +1 (254) 423‑6927 pic.twitter.com/2lJNFPYwFT
— Stryker Fadhel (@ModerMuna) March 2, 2023
One passenger expressed gratefulness to crew for getting passengers on the ground.
@lufthansa thank you so much for your incredible care of Flt 469 tonight! My family will be eternally grateful for the skill of the pilot and co-pilot and care from the crew.
— Singing Cath (@singingcath) March 2, 2023
According to the FAA,
Lufthansa Flight 469 diverted to Dulles International Airport and landed without incident around 9.10pm local time after the crew reported encountering severe turbulence at 37,000 feet altitude over Tennessee.
The agency is investigating the incident. Passengers who are able are expected to fly onward from Washington Dulles to Europe this evening on a variety of flights based on seat availability and their final destination..
As horrible as I am sure the experience must have been, I am just hoping that people may start understanding what it actually means when the crew says: “Ladies and gentlemen, we do recommend that you fasten your seatbelt whenever seated, as we may experience unexpected turbulance”.
Be safe.
A former flight attendant
Whenever I see these stories, my first thought is always “what about anyone that was in the restroom at the time?”
I have no doubt this was a terrifying experience. I’ve been through severe turbulence and, just as with this incident, the only people injured didn’t have their seatbelt on. I had to chuckle when a fellow passenger once remarked to the FA after some choppy air, “wow, that felt pretty severe,” and the FA replied, without missing a beat, “sir, I know this was unpleasant, but ‘severe’ is when unsecured objects start flying through the cabin. This is why we advise that you always keep your seatbelt fastened.'” There really is only about a foot of clearance between your head and the ceiling, so please just do what the FAs say.
Yep – after 8 million miles and 35 years of extensive flying I always have my seatbelt on unless getting up to use the bathroom or letting another passenger out. Don’t understand people that don’t since you can have it loosened (maybe an inch loose) so it doesn’t inconvenience your movement and you really don’t know it is there but it would stop you in a case like this.
I completely agree with AC just above in the comments. I always keep my seatbelt on, fastened, during the entire flight, albeit slightly loosened for comfort. At least I am confident of limiting any potential injury to myself if that “unexpected turbulence” throws things (and people) around! And, given my age, getting tossed like that would be “broken parts” for sure!
I struggle to understand how any airline encounters unexpected turbulence over the US or western Europe where there are extensive reports filed as a result of the heavy use of airspace as well as turbulence prediction software that many of the US airlines, at least, use.
The article doesn’t say exactly where the upset event occurred but the US has had significant weather instability for several weeks throughout the country.
@Tim At least as of now, the article does say that the turbulence was encountered yesterday evening over Tennessee. I live in TN and we had a line of severe thunderstorms moving through the portion of the state where the flight was at the time. Thunderstorms are extremely dynamic, so what a flight passing through 5 minutes earlier experienced isn’t necessarily indicative of what the next flight will experience. Pilots do pass along ride reports when there’s significant turbulence, but turbulence can change very quickly, especially in and around thunderstorms. Thunderstorm downbursts usually only last for a few minutes, for example, but can be extremely severe, sometimes causing damage on the order of what would be expected from an EF-1 or so tornado, but on a wider scale.
That being said, Clear Air Turbulence also exists and is extremely difficult to predict. As the name suggests, it can happen even when the air is completely clear, so nothing would show up on the weather radar in that case. Given the location and time, though, I would guess that this was thunderstorm winds, not CAT. There are very good reasons that pilots usually try their best to avoid flying through thunderstorms, even in airliners.
Yes, the middle of the US, including TN had a front passing through last night. Flightaware shows the LH flight passed right through the weather system.
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Because there was a cold front moving through, it is hard to understand why there wasn’t more caution. Again, several US airlines use turbulence predictive software and many err on the side of caution in having flight attendants be seated and stop service – and most US airline passengers do comply from my experience if there is even the slightest evidence that turbulence exists.
There isn’t evidence this was clear air turbulence but due to a verifiable and predictable weather system
Always keep it on. Had a beverage cart land on me on a DL flight from Columbia SC to ATL. . .not long, clear air but BAM!