More than a dozen people were injured Sunday when a flight to Hawaii was rocked by severe turbulence about 30 minutes from Honolulu, authorities said.
Eleven people on the Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix were taken to emergency rooms in serious condition; nine others were transported in stable condition, the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said in a statement. A call about the episode came in shortly after 11 a.m.
Responders treated 36 people in all, the agency said. Of the 20 who were transported for further medical treatment, the youngest was 14 months. The agency said the wounds included a serious head injury, lacerations, bruising and loss of consciousness.
Passenger Kaylee Reyes told Hawaii News Now that her mother had just sat down when the turbulence hit and did not have a chance to buckle her safety belt.
“She flew up and hit the ceiling,” Reyes said.
Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement that 13 passengers and three crew members were taken to area hospitals. The airline said the plane was carrying 278 passengers and 10 crew members and landed safely in Honolulu about 10:50 a.m.
The discrepancy in the number of injuries could not immediately be reconciled.
Thomas Vaughan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, said there had been a weather advisory for thunderstorms in areas that would have included the flight path at the time of the incident.
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