Passengers aboard Lufthansa Flight 469 on Wednesday, March 1, lived through an alarming experience when severe turbulence unexpectedly hit their aircraft.
The flight, traveling from Texas to Germany, had to make an emergency landing at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after experiencing severe turbulence that scared everybody on the plane and injured seven.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesperson, Michael Cabbage, said the flight experienced “significant turbulence” about one and a half hours after takeoff. According to a statement by Lufthansa Airline, the turbulence resulted in minor injuries to several passengers.
One of the passengers, Susan Zimmerman, spoke about her experience and what happened inside the aircraft during the turbulence.
Zimmerman, who is five months pregnant, said they were in the middle of dinner when all hell broke loose. She said it felt like they were on a rollercoaster going down fast for about five seconds.
Zimmerman said that dinner was being served when it began and that things were flying all around the cabin. When the turbulence finally ended, broken plates and glassware, trays and food were strewn all around, as if there had been a food fight.
The flight landed at the Virginia airport at 9:10 pm. The Federal Aviation Authority said the plane had experienced the turbulence at around 37,000 feet.
FlightAware said the aircraft descended for about 10,000 feet in 10 minutes, including a 1,000-foot drop that lasted about a minute.
The pregnant woman said she was terrified and prayed to God that she would get through alive. She added that she thought she would never see her unborn child and was trying to stay calm to avoid putting undue stress on the baby.
According to Zimmerman, there was also intermittent turbulence after the main drop until the plane stabilized and eventually landed at Dulles Airport.
The flight crew checked on the passengers several times before landing and more than 10 paramedics were waiting for them on the jet bridge.
According to Lufthansa, flight attendants had already treated injured passengers inside the plane as they were trained to do.
Wednesday’s incident was one of many other cases of turbulence resulting in injuries. Three passengers aboard a United Airlines Flight were injured on February 9 after hitting turbulence, while over 30 passengers onboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight were injured on December 18, 2022.
