An Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner en route from Madrid to Montevideo was forced to make an emergency landing in Natal, Brazil, on Monday after “severe turbulence” left several people injured, the airline said.
The Spanish company indicated on the social network X that the plane had “landed normally” in Natal (northeast) and that “the injured were taken care of”.
There are “between 25 and 30 injured,” a Uruguayan diplomatic source told AFP, specifying that this toll remained provisional and that some had already left the hospital where they had been taken.
“Most of them suffered minor injuries and none of them are believed to be in life-threatening condition,” the source said.
The Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that “the passengers who needed medical attention were transferred to the Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel Hospital in Natal.”
The plane landed at 02:42 local time (05:42 GMT), Zurich Airport Brasil, the company that manages Natal’s international airport, said in a statement sent to AFP.
Brazilian authorities did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests for information.
In May, a 73-year-old British man died and several other passengers and crew were seriously injured in severe turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight aboard a Boeing 777.
Climate change is causing more turbulence in flights, scientists say.
According to a study carried out in 2023, the annual duration of turbulence increased by 17% between 1979 and 2020 and severe turbulence, which is rarer, by more than 50%.
