The moment a flight en route to Miami hit “severe turbulence” was captured on video, showing objects and passengers thrown from their seats by the sudden fall.
On Thursday, Nov. 15, Scandinavian Airlines Flight SK957 encountered turbulence over Greenland during its trip from Stockholm to Miami, an airline spokesperson shared in a statement to PEOPLE.
In the footage, originally posted to X (formerly Twitter), passengers could be heard screaming as those apparently not wearing seat belts were lifted from their seats and some hit the ceiling of the plane’s cabin as debris flew and threw the air.
According to the airline, there were 254 passengers on board and “no serious injuries were reported among passengers or crew”.
‘Severe’ turbulence at United Air Force emergency landing, 1 person hospitalized, 6 injured
Sammy Solstad via CNN Newsource
Passenger Sammy Solstad told CNN he felt lucky to have survived the turbulence and that “everyone on the plane was praying and asking to just land instead of flying over the open sea.”
The flight crew called to return to Europe after the incident, eventually landing in Copenhagen, as their safety protocols “require a thorough inspection of the aircraft” and “necessary facilities and personnel” were not available in Miami.
A woman sitting next to Solstad, who he said was not wearing a seat belt at the time, “flew up to the ceiling” before “falling” — a moment that was also captured on video.
When the plane arrived in Copenhagen, a “special assistance team” was on site to help customers, who were given hotel accommodation and rebooked on other flights, according to SAS.
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Incidents of strong turbulence are not rare. A United Airlines flight from Cancun to Chicago experienced a similar scary scenario in August.
The airline confirmed to PEOPLE at the time that United Flight 1196 landed in Memphis after encountering a “brief period of severe turbulence” while the seatbelt sign was on. One passenger was transported to the hospital at the port.
An Air Europa flight hit by turbulence in July left dozens of people injured and one man stuck in an overhead bin. At the time, several passengers reported that turbulent air unexpectedly ejected people who were not wearing seat belts from their seats. About 30 passengers were injured on the flight, reports Reuters.
Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila were on a plane that reportedly fell 4,000 feet in a moment of “severe turbulence” in March 2023.
The Brazilian model and entrepreneur shared a video showing the damage inside the plane after it made an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
“On Flight last night, plane fell almost 4000 feet, 7 people went to the hospital, everything was flying everywhere,” Camila wrote in the caption. “Respecting the privacy of those around me, that’s all I show, but the plane was CHAOS. And the turbulence continues.”
“The @lufthansa flight you see on the news today!!!! Yes… that one,” the mother of three continued. “Thank God everyone was safe and well.”
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