Korean Air flight hit by severe turbulence, 14 people injured

Fourteen people were left with minor injuries after a Korean Air fight was rocked by severe turbulence. Photo / 123rf

Severe turbulence rocked a Korean Air flight, leaving 10 passengers and four cabin crew members injured.

On Sunday around 8am local time, Korean Air flight KE197 departed from the Seoul Incheon International Airport and headed to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Just over an hour into the flight, as it neared Tianjin Airport in China, there were 15 seconds of mayhem.

According to the Korea JoongAng Daily, people screamed as severe turbulence rocked the Airbus A300-300 carrying 281 passengers.

Fourteen people reported only minor injuries as the plane flew through lightning and thunder, the airline confirmed to Korean news media.

Passengers took to social media to share their experiences about the incident.

“The turbulence started around the time people were finished eating. The airplane sharply plunged so people were screaming and the meals were all knocked over, it was chaotic,” one person reportedly on the flight posted on X.

Photos shared by passengers online showed meal trays, food, and cutlery scattered on the aisle.

몽골여행 5박 6일 시작
ㅎ 기내식 다먹을즈음 난기류 시작해서 비행기가 급하강해가지고 사람들 비명지르고 식판 다엎어지고 난리남ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 1초간 아 죽나..? 싶었네 요즘 난기류가 심하다고 들었는데 진짜네요 pic.twitter.com/KtHNKefMYv

— 티슷/커미션 메인트윗 (@pinkteest) August 4, 2024

The airline told Korea JoongAng Daily that they provided painkillers onboard and a medical team was ready to inspect passengers upon arrival at Ulaanbaatar.

This comes less than 50 days since Korean Air experienced a flight incident that left 17 passengers injured.

On 22 June, a major system failure resulted in a flight KE189 suddenly dropping 8168m (26,900ft) in just 15 minutes.

The flight departed from the Seoul Incheon International Airport and headed to Taichung, Taiwan when 50 minutes later after takeoff a pressurised system fault drove the aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, to plummet, the Independent reported.

According to data from the online flight tracker Flightradar24, the aircraft descended from a calibrated altitude of 10,767m to 2567m in a quarter of an hour.

The aircraft carrying 125 passengers could then be seen circling several times before diverting back to Seoul. It was just after 7.30pm local time when the flight landed back in the South Korean capital.

Seventeen passengers were hospitalised as a result of the terrifying ordeal - though no major injuries were reported.