Sydney : At least 50 people were hurt when a Boeing 787 operated by LATAM Airlines dropped abruptly mid-flight from Sydney to Auckland on Monday, according to the airline and a New Zealand health service organization that treated the injured.
According to Reuters, the aircraft experienced a strong shake and as a result, 10 passengers and three cabin crew members were taken to a hospital, the South American carrier said as it investigates the cause.
The flight with 263 passengers and nine cabin crew members landed at Auckland airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon.
One person is in a serious condition while the rest suffered mild-to-moderate injuries, a spokesperson for Hato Hone St John, which treated roughly 50 people at the airport, said.
The cause of the apparent sudden change in trajectory of LATAM 800 could not be ascertained immediately. Safety experts say most airplane accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors that need to be thoroughly investigated.
Boeing shares closed down about 3% after the latest incident involving one of its aircraft. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in January barred the troubled planemaker from expanding production of its best-selling 737 MAX narrowbody planes, following “unacceptable” quality issues.
The head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, said the agency will work with Australian authorities or the New Zealand authorities to investigate.
“We will certainly follow that closely” given the airplane was manufactured in the U.S., he said.
