Flight 2905, bound from Tampa International Airport in Florida to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina hit turbulence on Thursday, August 8.
The four crew members were taken to a local hospital to be evaluated. The extent of the injuries was not immediately released to the media. None of the 154 passengers were injured, the airline confirmed to Newsweek.
What We Know
According to Flight Aware, American Airlines 2905 departed Tampa International Airport at 5:39 p.m. EDT on August 8, landing one hour and 26 minutes later at 7:05 p.m. at its destination in North Carolina.
“American Airlines flight 2905 with service from Tampa (TPA) to Charlotte (CLT) landed safely at CLT after encountering unexpected turbulence,” a spokesperson for the airline told Newsweek. “We thank our crew members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding.”
The National Weather Service defines air turbulence as “an irregular motion of the air resulting from eddies and vertical currents.”
“An aircraft gets lift by having air pass over the top and bottom of the wing. Typically, that air flows smoothly like it would coming out of a house fan on your face,” David Cohen, the dean of Lynn University’s College of Aeronautics, told Newsweek.
He explained that when a “momentary disruption to that airflow over the wing” occurs, “then there is a momentary disruption to the lift, which we sense as turbulence.”
“Given the size, speed, and weight of modern airliners, these small perturbations of airflow are rarely felt as any significant change of lift.”
Former airline pilot Lenny Lee told Newsweek: “A larger, heavier airplane that’s flying in a steady state will be harder for turbulence to shake, rattle and roll than a smaller, lighter airplane.”
Turbulence is a frequent occurrence on commercial airliners across the world, and most of the time is nothing to worry about. But in some instances, it can cause injury and even death.
On May 21, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 flying from London to Singapore ran into turbulence so severe that it was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand, after numerous passengers were badly injured. A 73-year-old British man died of a suspected heart attack before the flight landed.
Less than two weeks later, a Qatar Airways flight bound for Dublin, Ireland, from Doha, Qatar, experienced extreme turbulence, injuring six passengers and six crew members.
In March this year, a LATAM Airlines flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand, from Sydney also experienced severe turbulence, with 50 passengers receiving medical attention and 12 people being taken to the hospital after landing.