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A Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the plane experienced “significant” turbulence, hospitalizing 25 people on board.
Flight DL56 left Salt Lake City for Amsterdam at about 5.30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
In an interview with Fox Salt Lake City, passenger Joseph Carbone claimed that a pilot told him the plane plunged 1,000 feet before making the emergency landing.
Just over two hours into the eight-hour journey, the plane was forced to divert to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport after experiencing strong turbulence, Delta said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The Airbus A330-900 and its 288 passengers – 275 passengers and 13 crew – and crew on board were met by medical personnel after it touched down about 1,000 miles away in Minneapolis, the airline said.
In his interview with Fox Salt Lake City, Carbone said that the plane made its first sudden drop about 90 minutes into the journey, causing flight attendants serving food and drinks to be swept off their feet.
A second and third wave of turbulence followed, according to Carbone, who added that “each one got worse.”
According to data from the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane dropped from over 38,000 feet to 35,775 feet in about 90 seconds, between 6.23 p.m. and 6.35 p.m.
“I just saw everything fly through the air,” he told the news station. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
The airport’s fire department and paramedics provided passengers with medical attention, according to airport spokesperson Jeff Lea.
Twenty-five of those on board flight DL56 were taken to local hospitals for “evaluation and care.” The nature of the turbulence or the condition of the turbulence was not immediately.
After touching down in Minneapolis, Carbone said that the pilot said the plane had plunged 1,000 feet, which was not confirmed by Delta. The passenger also said he believed some of the injuries were serious.
“We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved,” the airline said in its statement. “Safety is our No. 1 value at Delta, and our Delta Care Team is working directly with customers to support their immediate needs.”
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It marks the latest in a series of troubling incidents for the airline in the past seven days.
On Tuesday, a Delta Air Lines flight from Stockholm bound for New York City was cancelled after the pilot was arrested after failing a breathalyzer test, Swedish police said.
The pilot, believed to be a U.S. citizen, was charged with suspicion of drunkenness and taken into custody at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. A Delta spokesperson told The Independent there was “no pilot intoxication” and that she has been released from custody.
On Saturday, a Delta co-pilot was arrested as sheriff’s deputies and federal agents stormed the cockpit of a Boeing 737 just after it landed in San Francisco.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office named the suspect as Rustom Bhagwagar, 34, of Florida, who officials confirmed was taken into custody after authorities received a report about sex crimes against a child.
Also this week, a South Carolina couple filed a federal lawsuit against Delta after discovering sexually explicit videos on their child’s lost iPad that were allegedly recorded by an airline worker.
