A passenger has described the moment people crashed onto the roof during what was described as a mid-air “technical incident” on a flight from Australia to New Zealand.
Brian Jocutt said a Latin American airliner unexpectedly crashed, leaving several people with head injuries and some thrown from their seats.
50 people were injured on landing in Auckland, and 12 were taken to hospital.
Emergency services say one person is in serious condition.
New Zealand’s St John Ambulance Service said it had seen and treated “approximately 50 patients”, including those aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that took off from Sydney.
Mr Jocutt reported that after the plane “crashed like everything else”, people hit the ceiling with such force that “some of the roof panels broke” and others revealed that he was thrown into the aisle. I have experienced this before. Blood was pouring out of several people’s heads, people were screaming and there was chaos,” Jocutt added.
Another passenger told Radio New Zealand he saw people “flying around” leaving bloodstains on the ceiling.
Radio New Zealand reported that one of the passengers was not wearing a seatbelt.
Further details regarding the “technical incident” or its cause are not yet known.
The plane lost altitude about two hours into the three-hour flight between the two cities, according to aviation tracking company FlightAware.
Latam Air said it “deeply regrets the inconvenience and inconvenience caused to passengers due to this situation.”It says a technical event during the flight''caused the major movement,” but no further information is provided.”The aircraft landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” it added.
The plane was scheduled to fly from Auckland to Santiago, the capital of Chile, where the South American airline is based.
The flight was cancelled and a new flight was scheduled for Tuesday, RNZ reported.