Turbulence injured seven passengers on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt whereas ten passengers were injured on a Spirit Airlines flight after a battery caught fire on board.
Turbulence Injured Seven Passengers on Lufthansa Flight to Frankfurt
A Lufthansa flight bound for Frankfurt was forced to divert to Washington after the aircraft encountered brief but severe turbulence causing multiple injuries on board.
The Airbus A330-300 with registration D-AIKK was performing flight LH469 from Austin to Frankfurt on 1st March. However, while the aircraft was en route at FL370 about 150nm northwest of Washington, it encountered severe turbulence.
As a result, seven people on board were injured. Shortly after, the crew decided to divert to Washington Dulles following the emergency. Flight LH469 eventually landed safely on runway 19C at Washington Dulles without any further incident about one hour after leaving FL370.
According to Dulles Airport, the seven injured people on board were transported to hospitals after the emergency landing. Lufthansa reported that the aircraft encountered severe clear air turbulence about 90 minutes into the flight. The flight attendants provided first aid to injured passengers, and the aircraft was diverted to Washington.
According to Flight Aware, the Lufthansa flight descended roughly 10,000 feet over 10 minutes, including a one-minute, 1,000-foot drop at one point.
Susan Zimmerman, who is pregnant was also on board the flight. “While it was happening, the plates were up, and the ceiling glass was up in the ceiling. My bag was flown back behind me, and it was kind of like you’re in slow motion,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman further said that in those intense moments, her mind went towards her unborn daughter and husband, thinking, “God, just let me out of this.”
Battery Fire Injured Ten Passengers on Spirit Airlines Flight
Ten passengers were injured and were taken to hospitals after a battery caught fire and emitted smoke on board a Spirit Airlines flight.
The Airbus A320-200 with registration N695NK was performing flight NK259 from Dallas Ft. Worth to Orlando. However, while it was en route at FL350 about 90nm west-northwest of Jacksonville, the crew decided to divert to Jacksonville after a passenger’s battery stored in an overhead locker, caught fire and emitted smoke.
As seen in the footage shared on social media, the cabin crew extinguished the fire and secured the damaged battery. Flight NK259 landed safely on Jacksonville’s runway 26 about 25 minutes later.
The Jacksonville Fire department reported that ten passengers were taken to nearby hospitals with minor injuries. The fire originated from a battery in one of the passenger’s carry-on luggage.
Both of these flights are being investigated by the concerned authorities.
Feature Image via Twitter
The Spirit Airways incident was most likely a L-ion battery.
These batteries can short or overheat and then ignite into a blow torch like ferocity.
The larger batteries as in a laptop can cause severe burns to a person if close to the body.
In fact even a vape or mobile phone in a pocket igniting can cause severe burns.
Let’s hope that one of these does not ignite in on an aircraft or worse in the cargo hold that causes an un-contained fire if other cargo or cabin plastics etc catch fire. This type of fire, L-ion, is very hard to extinguish, and burns very hot.