Hawaiian Airlines Flight Hits Severe Turbulence, Dozens Injured

This is one of the worst turbulence cases we have seen in a long time.

Honolulu-bound Hawaiian A330 encounters severe turbulence

The incident occurred on Hawaiian Airlines flight HA35 from Phoenix to Honolulu. The flight was operated by a nine-year-old A330 with the registration code N393HA and was carrying over 300 people.

Several people flew out of their seats and hit the ceiling of the plane while the plane was cruising at 36,000 feet before landing in Honolulu. The plane was starting to descend when this occurred.

There were 36 people injured. Flight attendants were involved in the injuries. Dozens of firefighters, paramedics, and other emergency personnel met the plane after it landed at gate 10A.

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics treat a wide range of patients. There were many injuries including head injuries, cuts, bruised and lost consciousness. 20 people were taken to the ER. Nine of the 11 seriously injured were in stable condition.

Based on the number of injuries, this was an extreme case.

A passenger says there were two intense drops of altitude, one of which was so strong that her boyfriend's water bottle flew into the ceiling. Wow! The passenger said her mother hit the ceiling because she didn't have a chance tobuckle her seatbelt.

This is a good reminder to always wear your seatbelt

We forget the simplest way to protect ourselves when flying, which is to wear our seatbelts. The seatbelt sign was on at the time of the incident as the flight was about to descend.

The most injured didn't have their seatbelts on If you are buckled in, you have no real risk of being hit while sitting. You could become that object flying through the cabin if you aren't buckled in.

When severe turbulence can occur, wearing your seatbelt on a plane isn't really that uncomfortable. It is uncommon to have so many injuries on a flight.

Bottom line

Dozens of passengers were injured after the flight encountered severe turbulence. Some people who didn't have their seatbelts fastened were lifted out of their seats.

This is one of the worst turbulence incidents we have ever heard of, but I think it could have been worse.

What is the cause of the severe turbulence incident?