Auckland: At least 50 people were hurt when a Boeing 787 operated by LATAM Airlines dropped abruptly mid-flight from Sydney to Auckland on Monday, according to the airline and a New Zealand health service organisation that treated the injured.

The aircraft experienced a strong shake and as a result 10 passengers and three cabin crew members were taken to a hospital, the South American carrier said as it investigates the cause. The flight with 263 passengers and nine cabin crew members landed at Auckland airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon.

One person is in a serious condition while the rest suffered mild-to-moderate injuries, a spokesperson for Hato Hone St John, which treated roughly 50 people at the airport, said. “The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, throwing down the aisles,” passenger Brian Jokat told the BBC.

The cause of the apparent sudden change in trajectory of flight LA800 could not be ascertained immediately. Safety experts say most airplane accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors that need to be thoroughly investigated.

“Some of the roof panels were broken from people being thrown up and knocking through the plastic roof panels in the aisle ways.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2024