5 hurt after turbulence forces flight from Santa Ana to make emergency landing in Reno
Five passengers suffered minor injuries Wednesday when a Delta Air Lines flight headed from John Wayne Airport to Seattle encountered severe turbulence in a storm and was forced to make an emergency landing in Reno.
Three of the passengers were taken to a hospital, where their conditions were not immediately known, said Reno-Tahoe International Airport spokesman Brian Kulpin.
The two other injured passengers did not require additional medical attention, authorities said.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said that Flight 5763, operated by Compass Airlines under the Delta banner, was diverted to Reno and landed at about 1 p.m. after the crew reported the turbulence at about 34,000 feet.
There were 59 passengers and four crew members aboard.
One passenger tweeted the plane did two nose dives in “crazy turbulence” but that the crew “handled it perfectly.”
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning through 11 p.m. Thursday for most of the Sierra Nevada, including Lake Tahoe, where 2 to 5 feet of snow is possible in the highest elevations.
The weather service reported earlier Wednesday that overnight winds gusted over Sierra ridgetops near Reno in excess of 130 mph.
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