‘Several People Flew Up and Hit the Ceiling’: Severe Turbulence Injures Flight Attendants

You’ve probably heard flight attendants say that even if the pilot has turned off the fasten seat belt light, if you’re sitting, you should still be belted. Passengers on a Houston flight to New York’s LaGuardia airport learned this lesson first hand Wednesday evening.

Within a half hour into the flight, the plane hit a pocket of severe turbulence causing some unstrapped passengers and flight attendants preparing drinks to fly up and hit the ceiling, according to KPLC TV.

The flight was grounded in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to aid those who were injured. CNN reports five were hurt — three of whom were flight attendants taken to the hospital where one still remains with more severe injuries.

“I heard both the pilot and a flight attendant say that they had been flying for 20 or 30 years and had never seen anything like what they had saw today,” first class passenger Jeff Hornback told KPLC.

Watch KPLC’s report:

According to the report, injured passengers were removed from the plane and a separate crew came on board so the flight could continue on to LaGuardia.

[H/T CNN]