“Technical incident” on LATAM flight to Chile – DW – 03/11/2024

Thirteen passengers on a company flight LATAM They were flown from Sydney to New Zealand and admitted to hospital Chili Via Auckland, a “technical incident” was reported which caused significant turbulence, emergency services and the airline reported on Monday.

“Flight LA800, operating on the Sydney – Auckland route today, experienced a technical problem during the flight, which caused a strong movement (…) As a result of the incident, some passengers and cabin crew were injured,” the company noted. Chile-based LATAM, in a brief statement.

The flight landed in the New Zealand city as scheduled at 3:58 pm local time (03:58 GMT), LATAM said.

“The whole plane froze”

While the airline did not provide details on the technical fault or when the incident occurred, newspaper reports said a passenger experienced a “minor rapid fall”. New Zealand Herald.

“The whole plane was frozen,” the woman, who was not identified by the New Zealand newspaper, described.

Rescue services indicated that they were alerted at around 4:00 pm local time (03:00 GMT) and subsequently dispatched five ambulances to the airport.

50 people were injured and 13 were hospitalized

“Our ambulance crews assessed the condition of around 50 patients, one of whom was in a critical condition,” said Gerard Campbell of New Zealand Emergency Services. He also said that 13 people have been admitted to the hospital.

Hato Hone St., New Zealand. John Emergency Service said in a statement that the injured had “moderate” or “light” injuries.

Flight L800 between Sydney and Santiago de Chile with a stopover in Auckland is very popular with tens of thousands of Latin American immigrants traveling to their countries of origin.

rml (efe, afp)