KOLKATA: Eight flyers on a Mumbai-Kolkata flight were injured, four of them requiring hospitalisation, when the plane encountered severe turbulence in the air soon after it began its descent, around 100km from Kolkata on Monday.
There were 113 passengers and an infant on board, apart from 10 crew members.
Veteran pilots said air turbulence isn’t uncommon during pre-monsoon, but injuries to so many passengers is rare.
On Sunday, too, wind shear at Kolkata had forced a flight from Bengaluru to divert to Ranchi.
Passengers on board Monday’s Vistara flight, UK775, said the captain had sounded a rough weather warning shortly after the plane began to shudder during its descent.
Soon afterwards, the plane bobbed up and down in the air and passengers got thrown about in their seats.
Those seated near the window or in the middle had their heads dashed into the side panel or overhead luggage bin as the aircraft pitched violently.
The captain of the flight radioed air traffic control, and a medical emergency was declared to enable priority landing.
The flight hit an air pocket at 20,000ft, over Debra in West Midnapore, at 4.01pm.
Over two minutes, the nearly 40-tonne Airbus A-320 pitched and rolled in the air “as though it were a toy plane”, said a passenger.
The severe turbulence was over by 4.03pm, by which the plane had descended to 17,000ft, the trauma lasted for the rest of the journey.
But it seemed like an eternity, Subha Das, who was travelling with his father, septuagenarian Timir Baran, told his doctor.
While Subha complained of neck pain, his father suffered spinal tenderness.
Two others — Anita Agarwal and Sudip Roy — received more serious injuries.
While Roy had a cut in the scalp that required stitches, Agarwal suffered a right upper-arm fracture.
“It was a close shave for the passengers,” Kolkata airport director C Pattabhi said.
“The plane touched down safely at 4.25pm, after which the injured passengers were given first aid at the airport.
The four who had serious injuries taken to hospital.” A hospital source later informed that three of the passengers were released; only Agarwal was still there.
A Vistara spokesperson said the incident was being investigated on a priority.