Severe and unexpected turbulence on United Airlines Flight #880 from Houston to London’s Heathrow Airport left 10 passengers and two crew members so badly injured they required hospitalization in Ireland.
The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing early Wednesday morning at Shannon Airport in Ireland, where the injured were taken to University Hospital in Limerick for treatment, officials said.
The Boeing 767, carrying 207 passengers, landed safely at 5:55 a.m. local time, with ambulances on hand to meet the flight on the tarmac. “All have since been discharged, except for one of our flight attendants,” the airline said in a statement.
A Colorado business passenger told NBC News, “Things flew all over the cabin and kitchen area. One attendant [cracked] the side of her head and was bleeding.” He added that his own shoulders were “really really hurting from grabbing on to the arm rest during those altitude declines.”