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At least 27 passengers were injured when an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok hit severe air turbulence. Picture: Instagram/krlrgstk
AT LEAST 27 people have been injured on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok when their Boeing 777 hit a patch of severe turbulence.
Passengers were slammed into the plane’s ceiling when the aircraft flew through a pocket of
“clean air” turbulence — which means there was no cloud warning of its presence — shortly before landing in Bangkok after midnight, the airline said.
Passenger phone footage broadcast by Rossiya 24 state television channel showed a scene of chaos inside the cabin, with injured passengers on the floor, smears of blood on luggage racks and oxygen masks hanging down.
A passenger, who gave her first name Yevgenia, told Rossiya 24 by phone: “We were hurled up into the roof of the plane, it was practically impossible to hold on. It felt like the shaking wouldn’t stop, that we would just crash.”
Passenger Rostik Rusev shared video of the aftermath on Instagram, with the caption: “I was on a plane going from Moscow to Bangkok, out of nowhere we hit turbulence, that was so bad that it was throwing people around like crazy.
“Blood everywhere, people with broken bones, noses, open fractures, baby’s with head injuries, I can keep going and going. Thank God we are alive! I really hope @aeroflot @aeroflotrus will do right by everybody! I can honestly say I have never been so scared in my life before. #aeroflot #emergency. We are ok!”
Footage shows injured passengers lying in the aisle of the Aeroflot plane. Picture: Instagram/krlrgstkSource:Supplied
The Russian embassy in Thailand said 24 of the injured were Russian nationals and 15 of them were taken to a Bangkok hospital for treatment. The other three injured were from Thailand.
The Russian airline said in an earlier statement that several passengers had been injured during “severe turbulence” 40 minutes before landing in the Thai capital.
It said the crew was unable to warn passengers of the approaching danger as the turbulence occurred in a clear sky.
“All the injured were sent to a local hospital with injuries of a different kind of severity, mainly fractures and bruises,” the embassy said.
“The reasons behind the injures was that some of the passengers had not had their seatbelts fastened.”
Passengers were injured when an Aeroflot plane hit a patch of severe turbulence. Picture: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg NewsSource:Bloomberg
The head of the Russian embassy’s consular department, Vladimir Sosnov, told RIA Novosti news agency some of the injured were undergoing operations.
Three people needed surgery, two for multiple leg fractures and one for broken ribs.
The airline said 313 people had been travelling on the flight, SU 270.
Airports of Thailand Pcl, Thailand’s main airport operator, told Reuters the Boeing 777 had landed in Bangkok, but said any other comment should come from the airline.
Aeroflot operates two flights a day from Moscow to Bangkok. Thailand is a top destination for Russian tourists, with many visiting the country’s beach resorts.