Five people aboard a United flight were left injured after the plane hit “unexpected” severe turbulence on its 17-hour journey from San Francisco to Singapore, it has been revealed.
The incident took place on March 27 but came to light in a report published yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Flight UAL29, operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, experienced sudden, violent turbulence while flying over Butuan City, Philippines, that left three cabin crew and one passenger with minor injuries and one cabin crew member with a serious injury.
They were treated by medical personnel at Singapore Changi Airport, with the other 173 passengers and 10 crew on board unharmed, according to the report.
A United spokesperson told The Independent : “United flight 1 from San Francisco to Singapore experienced a brief period of unexpected turbulence mid-flight.
“Medical personnel met the aircraft upon arrival in Singapore and transported one customer and four flight attendants to the hospital.
“We’re grateful to our crew for their efforts to ensure the safety of fellow crew members and our customers.”
A similar incident occurred on another United flight earlier in March – five were hospitalised when it was rocked by severe turbulence caused by thunderstorms.
The SkyWest flight, operating as United Express from Springfield, Missouri, was due to arrive in Houston, Texas, in the evening of March 2, but ended up making an emergency diversion to Waco Regional Airport.
The plane was forced to land after severe thunderstorms over Fort Worth, Texas, impacted the flight’s path.
There were only 32 people onboard at the time, but five suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to the local hospital.
“SkyWest flight 5690, operating as United Express from Springfield, Missouri, to Houston, landed safely at Waco Regional Airport after experiencing turbulence,” an airline spokesperson said.
“Medical personnel met and evaluated passengers, and five passengers were transported to the hospital.
“SkyWest and United are making sure the injured customers get the care they need and are working to line up new transportation options for everyone on this flight.”
Experiencing turbulence is unnerving, but turbulence-related injuries remain rare.
The FAA said that there have been only 184 serious turbulence injuries between 2009 and 2023, with just 37 of those people passengers. The rest were crew members.
Considering 2.9 million passengers fly in and out of US airports every day – 1058.5 million a year – the odds of being injured by turbulence are pretty low.
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