Turbulence Injures Dozens Of Passengers On Diverted United Flight

A United Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles hit more than a few bumps in the road Monday night when turbulence not only caused the plane to be diverted to Denver, but also left at least 25 people injured.

Flight 967 was carrying 255 passengers and 10 crew members — and hopefully no monkeys
— when it ran into turbulence during its cross-country trip.

According to the Denver Post, at least 4 crew members and 21 passengers were injured in the incident.

Before the plane made its unscheduled landing at Denver International, airport staff had set up a makeshift triage unit to handle those needing immediate medical attention.

Twenty-one of the injured people were ultimately taken to area hospitals. A spokesman for the Denver Fire Dept. only described one injury as serious, while the other injured passengers suffered mainly from things like bruises, sprains, whiplash and strains.

“It was a bit of a blur. People were screaming and yelling,” recalled one passenger on board the flight. She also described watching as the woman in the seat next to hear “slammed into the side of the cabin, leaving a crack above the window, and a girl across the aisle flew into the air and hit the ceiling.”

The FAA inspection team that looked over the plane after it landed in Denver found no exterior damage but interior damage to overhead bins and arm rests.

Around two hours after the plane landed in Denver, United had many of the uninjured passengers on a different plane heading to L.A.

Turbulence injures 25 on United flight diverted to DIA [Denver Post]

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