Plane passengers describe horror after landing in the air – The Irish Times

Cockpit voice recorders and flight data are being collected as an investigation begins into a sudden mid-air landing on an Auckland-bound flight that left passengers bloodied and dozens taken to hospital “feeling like an earthquake had just struck”.

LATAM Airlines flight LA800 departed Sydney at 11.35am on Monday with 263 passengers and nine cabin and cabin crew bound for Auckland.

The airline said the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which was eight years old, according to flight tracking data, “experienced a strong jolt” about two-thirds of the way into the three-hour flight.

The Chilean airline said that the accident occurred after a “technical problem”, while the investigation into the accident continues.

Passengers on the plane told New Zealand news site Stuff that once the plane landed, the pilot was “shocked” and said his “indicators just disappeared.” Without the instrument panel, passengers claim the pilot said he briefly lost the ability to fly his plane.

Fifty people were treated by 14 ambulance crews who were waiting for the flight when it landed safely at Auckland Airport on Monday at about 4.30pm local time.

13 of them were taken to hospital, one of them in serious condition. Among those taken to hospital were four passengers from Australia, two from Brazil and two from New Zealand, in addition to a French passenger and a Chilean passenger. Three crew members were also transferred for further treatment.

As of Tuesday morning, four patients remained at Middlemore Hospital. In a statement Tuesday morning, Latam said there was no life-threatening risk to those still in hospital.

The midair landing was described as lasting only about a second or so.

Auckland-based DJ Lucas Elwood, a passenger who was wearing a seatbelt at the time of landing, said lunch service had just ended when the plane “suddenly went down.”

It's over [in] “In less than a second, it was a very quick jolt,” Elwood told ABC News. “It felt like an earthquake had just occurred.”

“Everything was going smoothly, then the plane hit us without any warning from the pilots,” he told The Guardian. Everything that wasn't connected hit the roof right away, Mr Elwood said.

“It was terrible,” he said. Elwood said passengers and crew members were injured and bleeding, while others were visibly shaken.

“There was verbal panic until we landed, and as soon as we landed, everyone clapped, cheered and clapped. Until that moment everyone was afraid.”

Elwood said little information was provided to passengers immediately after the incident, and since then the airline has offered him no support or apology. “I am somewhat disappointed that there has not been a quicker response to this serious situation.”

“Suddenly, the plane fell from the sky,” said Brian Jukat, another passenger on the plane.

Mr. Gokat was asleep with his seat belt on at the time of landing, but he woke up to find the passenger sitting next to him with his back against the roof of the plane. “Then he falls and hits his head on the armrest. The whole plane screams.”

Mr Gokat said he then felt the plane “land nose down” and that he was “just thinking: OK, that's it, we're done”.

“The roof was broken from people's heads and bodies crashing into it. Basically, people had neck braces put on them, guys had their heads cut off and were bleeding out. It was just madness,” he told Stuff.

The flight was stopping in New Zealand on its way to Santiago, Chile. The next flight was cancelled, and passengers were offered to travel to Santiago on a flight on Tuesday evening.

LATAM said it was “working in coordination with the relevant authorities to support investigations into the incident.”

“Latam Airlines Group's priority is to support passengers and flight crew members, and apologize for any inconvenience or inconvenience this situation may have caused. They also reiterate their commitment to safety as an uncompromising value within their operational standards,” the airline said in a statement.

Chile's accident investigation body, Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC), confirmed on Tuesday that it had begun an investigation into the accident.

Since the accident occurred in international airspace, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is responsible for the investigation, but the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it had been asked to assist its Chilean counterpart.

The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the agency had not yet been formally informed of the incident, but it expected it to happen in the coming days in accordance with civil aviation rules.

Boeing said it was in contact with LATAM while the airline investigated what went wrong. A company spokesperson told The Guardian: “Boeing stands ready to support activities related to the investigation as requested.”

Boeing shares closed down about 3 percent after the recent accident involving one of its planes. The US Federal Aviation Administration in January barred the struggling planemaker from expanding production of its best-selling 737 MAX narrowbody jets, after “unacceptable” quality issues. -Guardian

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