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🇦🇺 Australia /Disasters & Emergencies

Australian passenger recounts onboard terror during turbulent flight

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A Cathay Pacific flight from Brisbane to Hong Kong experienced severe turbulence, causing 10 injuries, including four passengers and six cabin crew members.
  • The incident occurred about two hours before landing, with passengers reporting no prior warning and items like phones and food being thrown around the cabin.
  • Several doctors onboard provided assistance to the injured after the aircraft landed safely in Hong Kong.

An Australian passenger described a terrifying experience aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX156 from Brisbane to Hong Kong, where severe turbulence caused the aircraft to plunge mid-air, injuring 10 people. Nicholas Stevenson, a businessman from Cairns, recounted the moment the Airbus A350-900 dropped suddenly about two hours before landing on Saturday.

"I thought the plane was going down," Stevenson said. "There were phones flying, coffees smashed into the roof, food absolutely everywhere. People were screaming. There was a lot of people really freaking out."

I thought the plane was going down. There were phones flying, coffees smashed into the roof, food absolutely everywhere. People were screaming. There was a lot of people really freaking out.

· Nicholas StevensonDescribing the experience during severe turbulence on Cathay Pacific flight CX156.

The turbulence struck without warning, according to passengers, as cabin crew had just begun serving breakfast. "They'd turned the lights on, people were waking up, and they'd started giving out meals," Stevenson recalled. "There was no seatbelt sign or warning beforehand."

They'd turned the lights on, people were waking up, and they'd started giving out meals. There was no seatbelt sign or warning beforehand.

· Nicholas StevensonRecounting the lack of warning before the turbulence struck.

The plane reportedly plunged twice in quick succession. "The first one caught everyone completely off guard, and then probably 15 or 20 seconds later it happened again," Stevenson said. "People who'd just managed to get back into their seats or grab onto something got thrown around again."

Cathay Pacific confirmed that six cabin crew and four passengers sustained injuries. Stevenson noted that the cabin crew appeared to suffer the worst, as they were standing and moving service carts when the aircraft dropped. "The staff got hit pretty badly because not only were they thrown, but the food carts went flying into them as well," he said.

The staff got hit pretty badly because not only were they thrown, but the food carts went flying into them as well.

· Nicholas StevensonDescribing the injuries sustained by cabin crew.

Passengers realized the severity of the situation when announcements were made asking for doctors onboard. Four doctors traveling on the flight assisted the injured while the aircraft continued its journey. The pilot later apologized, explaining the plane had encountered an unexpected weather system.

That's when we realised there were some pretty seriously injured people.

· Nicholas StevensonRecalling the moment passengers understood the gravity of the situation after doctors were called.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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