Travel: Man stuck in overhead bin with 30 injured on Boeing flight after 'strong turbulence' in shocking video

The Air Europa flight was forced to emergency land in Brazil on Monday (July 1). Air Europa said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Our flight UX045 bound for Montevideo has been diverted to the Natal airport (in Brazil) due to strong turbulence.

“The plane has landed normally and those who sustained different types of injuries are already being treated.” The aircraft hit by turbulence was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane has the capacity to hold up to 339 passengers, according to Air Europa’s website.

One of the passengers told Reuters: “From one moment to the next, the plane destabilized and went into a dive. The people who didn’t have seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, and they got hurt – those who had seat belts on, not so much”.

Another passenger, Stevan, told the news agency: “There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces, and legs. There are about 30 people injured. It was a pretty horrible feeling; we thought we were going to die there, but thank God it didn’t happen.”

The Spanish airline said that another plane was set to depart later on Monday from Madrid and pick up the passengers stranded in Brazil to continue their journey to Uruguay. Air Europa added that anyone who is in need of healthcare is being treated in Brazil’s Natal International Airport.

While there’s no evidence so far that the injuries on the Air Europa flight had anything to do with a safety malfunction, Boeing has recently faced a series of whistleblowers alleging safety issues at the company. Just last week, a whistleblower came forward alleging parts of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes were built in an unsafe manner – potentially leading to “devastating consequences.”