HONOLULU – Several people were injured when a Hawaiian Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence on Sunday.
Hawaiian Airlines flight 35 from Phoenix to Honolulu was about 30 minutes from landing when severe turbulence rocked the flight.
According to a report from FOX 10 Phoenix, the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said in a statement that 11 people were taken to a hospital in serious condition, and nine others were taken to a hospital in serious condition.
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“I want to say I’m very grateful for the support of the emergency services,” said Hawaiian Airlines executive vice president and chief operating officer Jon Snook. “The DOT, police and fire department who were on site as soon as the aircraft arrived and provided fabulous care for those that were injured.”
Hawaiian Airlines released a statement after the incident and said “We are supporting all affected passengers and employees and are continuing to monitor the situation.”
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To understand natural turbulence and what causes it, we have to understand how a plane flies.
“The wings of an airplane are designed to split the airflow created by the engines pushing the jet through an airmass,” FOX Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer said. “It creates a pressure difference above and below the wing. This difference creates an upward force called lift.”
And when the lift is greater than gravity, the plane goes up. And when it’s equal, the plane cruises along on a smooth ride.
“Turbulence comes when there’s a disruption in that balance,” Frazer said. “Simply put, turbulence is just a change in wind speed and wind direction over a surface – like an airplane.”