30 injured as turbulence hits Turkish Airlines flight to New York

NEW YORK / ISTANBUL

A Turkish Airlines passenger jet traveling from Istanbul to New York hit severe turbulence on March 9 as it approached its destination, with 30 people suffering injuries before it landed safely, officials said.

"The Boeing 777 type aircraft, which had taken off from Istanbul with 326 passengers and 18 crew members, landed safely at the airport at 5.35 p.m. on March 9, after experienced turbulence," the statement made by Turkish Airlines said.

Turkish Airlines stated that 28 passengers onboard and 2 cabin staff, who had sustained non-life-threatening injuries, were taken to the hospital upon the flight's landing, for their overall control.

The injured were taken from New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport to local hospitals, mainly for treatment of bumps, cuts and bruises.

Among 28 passengers, who were referred to the hospital, 18 were discharged after their treatment, and 10 of passengers are still under control, another statement added.

One flight attendant suffered a broken leg, according to Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the area’s airports, bus terminals, bridges and tunnels.

The Boeing 777 — which had 326 passengers and 21 crew on board — was over the Atlantic Ocean, about 45 minutes from landing, when it struck the turbulence, Coleman told AFP.

Airport operations were not disrupted as a result of the incident, he added.

“Since there were not seen any technical failure on the TC-JJG tail-coded aircraft, which were exposed to unforeseen adverse weather conditions (turbulence) before landing at New York JFK Airport, during the necessary technical examinations, the given airplane departed from JFK on time for operating its scheduled flight between New York (JFK) and Istanbul (IST),” according to a follow-up statement by Turkish Airlines about TK12 New York (JFK) - Istanbul (IST) Flight.

Earlier in the day, a plane operated by Canada’s Air Transat made an emergency landing at another New York area airport — in Newark, New Jersey — after smoke was detected in the cargo hold, the company said.

The Boeing 737-800, which had 189 passengers on board, was traveling from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. No one was injured, a spokeswoman for Air Transat told AFP.