Almost a dozen passengers on a flight from Barbados to the UK were injured and the plane had to make an emergency landing after encountering severe turbulence far out over the Atlantic.
UK media reports describe the incident as involving a flight by the global charter operator Maleth Aero.
The charter flight set out from Barbados on December 23rd with more than two hundred people onboard for what was expected to be a seven-hour, 15-minute flight to Manchester in the UK.
The plane had already travelled some distance from Barbados and was approaching three hours into the journey when it was reportedly caught in “clear-air” turbulence that injured several people.
The plane had to be diverted to Bermuda for an emergency landing forcing the passengers the passengers to spend their Christmas there instead of back home.
According to the UK media reports, instead of arriving in Manchester on Sunday morning, the plane and its 225 passengers, who had been on a P&O Caribbean cruise, landed in Bermuda and remained on the island until about 5pm yesterday afternoon.
Bermuda’s emergency services took eleven of the passengers to hospital early on Sunday.
A statement from the Bermuda Ministry of National Security says that at approximately 12.50 am on Sunday Maleth Aero Flight 1975, an Airbus A300-200, en route from Barbados to Manchester experienced severe turbulence, necessitating an emergency landing at LF Wade International Airport. The aircraft executed a controlled landing on the island. Emergency medical technicians from the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service greeted the aircraft to provide initial assessments of the passengers and pre-hospital care.
It added that although 11 passengers were taken to hospital for evaluation, all of the injuries were minor and nine of the passengers were discharged.
A spokesman for P&O Cruises told the UK newspaper, The Independent, that a flight from Barbados to Manchester was diverted to Bermuda following freak turbulence.
The spokesman added that passengers were subsequently moved into hotels until the flight could resume.
