Air India flight loses 300 feet in turbulence, 15 injured

An Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi suddenly lost around 300 feet in altitude after encountering severe turbulence, injuring at least 15 people. The A320 landed safely in Delhi, while the DGCA launched an investigation into the incident

New Delhi: An Air India flight from Phuket to the national capital faced mid-air turbulence and the aircraft suddenly lost 300 feet in altitude on Tuesday morning, leaving at least 15 people onboard injured, including one cabin crew member who suffered severe injuries, according to officials. The narrow-body A320 aircraft, operating the flight AI2379 from Phuket, landed safely at the Delhi airport at around 11.30 am. There were 134 passengers and 8 crew members on board, sources said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident. Sources said at least 15 people, including 11 passengers and 4 cabin crew members, sustained injuries, and all of them have been moved to various hospitals. “Air India A320 aircraft VT-EXO Operating flight AI2379 (Phuket-Delhi) experienced loss of approximately 300 feet in altitude during the flight.

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“Pilot In Command reported a severe injury to one cabin crew member, injury to another and minor injuries to a few passengers due to a sudden loss of approximately 300 feet altitude,” a senior DGCA official told PTI. In a statement, an Air India spokesperson said the flight experienced a brief in-flight turbulence-related event during cruise, resulting in a momentary change in altitude.

The aircraft landed safely in Delhi and all passengers and crew have disembarked. “There has been no report of serious injuries. A small number of passengers and crew members with minor injuries requiring medical assessment have been taken to a medical facility at the airport for precautionary examination and care by Air India’s airport team and medical personnel,” the spokesperson said in a statement issued at around 1.30 pm.

The DGCA official said the matter was being investigated. The airline’s spokesperson also said the airline was providing all necessary support to those affected and cooperating fully with the relevant authorities as part of the investigation.

It is a usual standard operating procedure for pilots to inform passengers about possible turbulence, especially when there is bad weather. However, mid-air turbulence resulting in injuries to passengers and cabin crew is rare.

On May 21, 2024, a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore faced severe turbulence, following which one passenger died due to suspected heart attack and many others were injured. Among other such serious incidents, a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Durgapur had faced severe turbulence on May 1, 2022, resulting in the death of a passenger and injuries to several others.