A dozen people were injured yesterday during a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin that experienced strong turbulence. Qatar Airways posted on social media platform X that “a small number of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries in flight and are now receiving medical attention.” The air carrier added that the matter is undergoing investigation.
According to a Dublin Airport statement published on X, out of the six passengers and six crew members who were injured, eight were transported to hospital for further medical attention.
The plane, a Boeing B787-9, was hit by turbulence for around 20 seconds during meal time, according to passengers who spoke with Irish national broadcaster RTE. “I guess [it happened] an hour or two hours from Dublin Airport,” said one. “We hit a pocket of turbulence and dropped for about 5 seconds. You could see people hit the roof, food and things everywhere, and a few injuries from that.”
[See more: Buckle up. Climate change is making flying more turbulent]
Several days earlier, a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore also experienced severe turbulence that resulted in a British national dying from a heart attack, as well as dozens of passengers sustaining injuries of varying degrees of severity.
In response to the incident, Singapore Airlines stated that it would take “a more cautious approach to managing turbulence in-flight,” telling Al Jazeera that it would reroute the flight, as well as stop handing out meals when the seatbelt signal is turned on.
Data from the US Federal Aviation Administration shows that there were only 163 cases of major turbulence injuries between 2009 and 2022. However, some researchers say the rate of turbulence has been increasing dramatically in recent decades with climate change as the cause.
