At least 50 passengers were injured when a packed Boeing jet suddenly nosedived Monday — sending flyers crashing into the ceiling, leaving bloodstains above their seats.
LATAM Airlines Flight LA800 from Sydney, Australia, was about an hour from its destination of Auckland, New Zealand, when “all of a sudden, the plane just dropped out of the sky,” passenger Brian Jokat told New Zealand news outlet Stuff.
Jokat said he woke from a nap to the shocking sight of his neighboring passenger on the ceiling.
“His back is on the ceiling and he’s up in the air, and then he drops down and hits his head on the armrest,” Jokat said.
“The whole plane is screaming.
“The plane then started taking a nosedive, and I was just thinking, ‘OK, this is it, we’re done.’”
Even the pilot was left in “shock,” Jokat said, saying he told him, “My gauges just blanked out, I lost all of my ability to fly the plane.”
Another passenger described how many not wearing seat belts “flew” through the cabin.
“Blood was on the ceiling, people [flew] and broke the ceiling of the plane,” the passenger, only identified as Valentina, told CNN affiliate RNZ.
Video posted online from the tumultuous flight also showed one person lying unconscious in the middle of the aisle as others held their heads in apparent pain and shock. The plane, which can hold about 280 passengers, appeared to be mostly full.
Once the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner safely landed in Auckland, emergency crews treated 50 people onboard, local ambulance company Hato Hone St. John said in a statement to Australia’s ABC News.
Twelve were transported to a local hospital, with one person in serious condition, the ambulance service said.
In a statement, Chile-based LATAM Airlines confirmed that the flight had a “technical event” that caused a “strong movement.”
A spokesperson for the airline also noted the flight “landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled.
“As a result of the incident, some passengers and cabin crew were affected,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the New Zealand Herald.
“They received immediate assistance and were evaluated and treated by medical staff at the airport as needed.”
LATAM Airlines regretted “the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers,” and reiterated “its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards,” a spokesperson also told Australia’s ABC News.
Passengers were given overnight accommodations, according to Stuff.
A replacement flight to Santiago, Chile, has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, ABC News reports. LATAM Airlines was making a trip from Sydney to Chile, with a stopover in New Zealand, at the time of the “technical” problem.
The terrifying flight was the latest drama for Boeing, which has faced numerous inspections and government investigations already this year.
In January, the door plug of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew off at 16,000 feet in the air.
Boeing told The Post on Monday that it was “working to gather more information” about the LATAM flight “and will provide any support needed by our customer.”
With Post wires
