Passengers were left horrified as an easyJet plane “plummeted 200m,” leaving two cabin crew injured after being rocked by turbulence just 20 minutes into the flight.
The flight, carrying 181 passengers left Corfu at about 12:44pm on Monday and was bound for London Gatwick. But shortly after take-off, the plane was struck by turbulence as
It is understood that two cabin crew members had been preparing to serve food when they were slammed against the aircraft’s walls. They are believed to have suffered injuries serious enough for the pilot to divert the flight to Rome’s Fiumicino airport so they could be treated.
Passenger Becky Walters shared her harrowing experience. “Fabulous holiday ended with a nightmare journey back from Corfu with terrible turbulence in which we plummeted 200m and two cabin crew were injured with broken leg resulting in emergency diversion to Rome for them to be taken to hospital and a 6 hour wait to be rescued by easyJet,” she said in a Facebook post.
“They sent out the big guns and shepherded us home with constant updates from captain who spoke to us all in the cabin before flying and kept us constantly updated during return also turbulent flight. A great PR rescue but they handled it really well in the end.”
Following the incident an easyJet spokesperson said: “The flight on August 19 experienced turbulence which unfortunately injured two cabin crew members. As a result, the captain decided to divert the flight to Rome, where the flight attendants received medical assistance.
“The safety and well-being of our customers and crew are easyJet’s top priority, and our pilots are trained to manage turbulence.”
Italy’s air safety agency, ANSV, said it had launched an investigation to determine whether the turbulence was a sudden and unforeseeable event, which is known as “clear air turbulence.”