Multiple people suffered injuries after an Allegiant Air flight hit severe turbulence, tossing several air travelers into the ceiling during a flight to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) on Wednesday.
Two passengers and two flight attendants were transported to a nearby hospital for their injuries and six other passengers were assessed by paramedics on-site, a representative for Allegiant confirmed to Newsweek in an email.
While sometimes frightening, those bumps and shakes are a normal part of air travel. Turbulence, which can be violent enough to damage airplanes, is the most "unpredictable of all the weather phenomena" and caused by wind shear, fronts and thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.
Climate researchers caution that both the severity and frequency of turbulence are increasing due to climate change, saying it could become three times as common by 2050 to 2080. Recent bouts of severe turbulence prompted flight attendants to call for a ban on "lap babies," urging parents to get an extra seat and use a car seat.
Allegiant Air flight 227, which departed from Asheville, North Carolina, around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, appeared to suddenly lose altitude over Florida about 15 minutes before landing. The plane was at an altitude of about 18,000 feet before descending to about 13,000 feet in roughly a minute, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Data also shows that the plane arrived eight minutes early, landing at 3:24 p.m. local time..
The airplane was carrying 179 passengers and six crew members, Allegiant spokesperson Andrew Porrello said in a statement to Newsweek. While it's unclear if the aircraft sustained damage, Porrello said it landed normally and taxied to the gate without assistance.
"Airport paramedics met the plane to assess two passengers and two flight attendants for injuries," Porrello said. "They were transported to the hospital for further evaluation. Six additional passengers were assessed by paramedics and released on site."
Porrello could not confirm any additional details as of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, saying that the airline is investigating in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Passenger Lisa Spriggs, who spoke to WTSP and WFLA, said that the major turbulence was "petrifying," and recalled the moment she saw a flight attendant get thrown into the air.
"She was literally like Matrix," Spriggs told WFLA. "Watched her go up in the air, and just land straight down. She broke her ankle. Another stewardess in the back broke her ankle, bone was protruding."
Spriggs told WTSP that she's "thankful" to be on the ground.
"It was terrifying," she said. "You hear of it happening, but you don't expect it to be that bad."
Paul Harris, who was also on the flight, said to WFLA there was a sudden bout of minor shakes before "major, major" turbulence rocked the plane. He told the outlet that several people had to be taken off the plane on stretchers.
"The plane felt like it dropped pretty considerably," Harris said. "Several people, including a lady in my row hit the ceiling."
Update 07/12/23, 7:50 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Allegiant Air spokesperson Andrew Porrello.
