Dozens Hurt as Jet Hits Severe Turbulence

As many as three dozen passengers were injured Tuesday, at least one seriously, when a crowded United Airlines DC-10 jumbo jet en route from Los Angeles to Chicago slammed into a pocket of severe turbulence and rocked wildly through the air.

“It was unbelievable, we freaked, we thought we were going to die,” said Maribeth Duffy, 26, a former flight attendant who was returning home from a vacation in Newport Beach.

Passengers said food, drinks, luggage and even some people went flying through the air as the plane, United Flight 90 with 232 passengers and 11 crew members aboard, bucked and dove as much as 2,000 feet. One infant reportedly sailed out of its mother’s arms into a coat rack near the front of the plane.

Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman, said the incident occurred at 37,000 feet over Garden City, Kan., more than 800 miles west of Chicago. Hopkins said the seat belt sign was on at the time and the flight attendants were all strapped into their seats.

Emergency Plan Activated

The pilot radioed ahead to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where an emergency plan was activated. Ambulances were standing by on the tarmac when the plane landed to take the injured to area hospitals. Hopkins said at least 10 passengers were removed from the airliner on stretchers, while others among the injured managed to walk off under their own power.

“Turbulence is a phenomenon that’s been with us for years, but severe turbulence where people are actually physically injured and have to go to a hospital, that’s quite rare,” Hopkins said.

Spokesmen at several hospitals said most of those hurt appeared to have suffered neck, head and back injuries and some had been hit by flying debris. Most did not appear to be hurt seriously, though a few passengers were admitted, including a 4-month-old baby brought into Chicago’s Resurrection Hospital by ambulance with a brace around its neck and an oxygen mask over its face. It could not be immediatedly determined if this was the same infant that reportedly flew into the coat rack.

Announcement Made

Duffy, who was treated for an arm injury at another facility, said the captain had made an announcement about possible turbulence prior to the incident, which occurred about 90 minutes into the flight at about 3 p.m. PDT. She said the flight attendants quit serving meals when the captain made the announcement. However, they did not check to see if passenger seat belts were fastened and tray tables stowed before they sat down, Duffy said.

She said several of the injured passengers were sleeping and did not hear the captain’s warning.

“The girl that was sitting in the very back of the plane was asleep and didn’t have her seat belt on,” Duffy said. “She literally flew over the seat in front of her into the next seat up. . . . I’ve never experienced anything like that in my two years of flying.”

Quits Attendant Job

Duffy, who had worked for Chicago-based Midway Airlines, said she quit last year because she became nervous about flying after an incident aboard an Aloha Airlines jet in which the roof ripped off while it was in flight over Hawaii. One person, a flight attendant, was sucked out of Aloha’s plane and died.

Duffy said several passengers were jostled so severely that they bounced off the ceiling and left dents. After calm was restored, she said the captain told passengers that the choppy air was so unexpected it had not even appeared on his radar.

She said crew members asked injured passengers whether they wanted to fly on to Chicago or land quickly. All apparently opted for Chicago.