'Technical fault' on Dreamliner. More than 50 people injured
At least 50 people were injured on a flight from Sydney to Santiago. LATAM Airlines announced that there was a "technical fault." According to witness accounts, the machine rapidly lost altitude.
10:42 AM EDT, March 11, 2024
The cause of the accident
The incident occurred aboard a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of Chile's national airline LATAM Airlines. The flight, designated LA800, was traveling between Sydney and Santiago. The machine landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon local time.
A LATAM airline spokesman told the "New Zealand Herald" newspaper, without giving details, that a "technical problem" occurred on board the Dreamliner during the flight, affecting some of the crew and passengers.
Reuters reported that Hato Hone St John doctors will provide medical assistance to about 50 people at the airport. Reports indicate that one patient's condition is serious, while the injuries of the other victims are mild to moderate.
"The New Zealand Herald" cites the account of one of Boeing's passengers, who said that the plane suddenly lost altitude during the flight. The passenger, Priscilla Waller-Subritzky, told the newspaper that she was watching a video when the aircraft lost altitude, and "many passengers and crew members were thrown against the ceiling of the plane's cabins." The incident occurred about an hour before the plane was scheduled to land.
A Passenger named Daniel told the New Zealand Herald that he had been flying for 15 years but had never experienced a similar incident. - The plane dived violently for a few seconds, with about 30 people hitting the ceiling hard, he added. He noted that the passengers did not know what had happened, and the captain did not give any information about the incident during the flight. Another witness saw one passenger's back on the ceiling and then fell, hitting his seat and suffering broken ribs in the process.
Aid operation
Fourteen ambulances were dispatched to Auckland Airport from Hato Hone St John in response to the incident. According to a LATAM spokesperson, three cabin crew members were taken to Middlemore Hospital for medical examination.
The Chilean airline expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers by the incident. Boeing and LATAM did not respond to Reuters questions and the causes and course of the incident. The flight to Santiago was rescheduled for the next day.
Source: Reuters, Al-Jazeera, New Zealand Herald
