Moments of panic from passengers aboard New Zealand's shaken Ladam plane: 'Saw baby fly'

Panic and uncertainty. These were some of the feelings described by passengers aboard Chilean-Brazilian airline Ladam LA800 on the Sydney-Auckland-Santiago route, which killed 13 people in a technical crash shortly before arriving at its stop in New Zealand last Monday. In the hospital. Some of those on the plane arrived in Chile on Tuesday and gave their testimony about the strong shaking that hit the cabins.

Veronica Martinez, one of the passengers on the crashed plane, described the strong shaking she felt inside, which displaced the occupants in their seats. “There was no turmoil, nothing. Suddenly everything was turned off and [el avión] “She went flat on the face like a roller coaster and then went up,” Chile told local press on arrival at Santiago airport.

The passenger also described the condition of other passengers who suffered various injuries. “People not wearing seat belts, coming out of the bathroom, the same maids who were walking. What impressed me the most was that behind me was a girl with a baby and I saw the baby fly away. It was horrible,” Martinez recounted.

The Chilean woman's story echoes that of other residents, such as Brian Jocat from Canada, who described how one of his flight mates hit the top of the plane due to the sudden movement. “There was no turbulence before, we traveled smoothly the whole way. I fell asleep, luckily I was wearing a seat belt, and suddenly, the plane fell (…) I thought I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and he looked at me with his face raised on the roof of the plane. It was like Exorcist“, he told a New Zealand radio station RNZ.

The passengers who arrived in Santiago de Chile were part of a flight modified by Ladam to make the journey from Auckland to Santiago. The company provided accommodation and food to users who had to postpone their plans due to the incident.

According to health workers at St. John's Hospital in New Zealand, emergency crews treated about fifty passengers at the airport. Of them, 13 — 10 passengers and three crew members — were sent to hospital for a check-up. The most seriously affected were four Australian citizens; Two Brazilians; Two New Zealand players; A Frenchman and a Chilean. The airline said most of the injured have been discharged and only one passenger and one crew member suffered injuries that required additional care but were not life-threatening.

The incident is being investigated by the Transport Accident Investigation Board, which has already seized the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder from the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), the government agency responsible for overseeing air travel in Chilean territory, has announced that two qualified representatives will travel to the maritime country to participate in investigations. Ladam has promised to cooperate with researchers to find the cause of the unexpected tremors.

The plane involved in the incident was manufactured by the American company Boeing, which is facing a delicate crisis due to repeated accidents involving its equipment. A report released in late February by US regulators called into question the “security culture” of multinational companies.

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