Two individuals were injured on an Air New Zealand flight due to severe turbulence. A passenger, Suze, suffered burns from a spilled coffee pot during the turbulence. Meanwhile, a crew member hit the cabin ceiling during the incident. The accident highlights the renewed focus on turbulence in the aviation sector following the recent death of a Singapore Airlines passenger.
Suze, who was traveling from Wellington to Queenstown on an Airbus A320, received burns from a coffee pot that was accidentally knocked over during turbulence. The incident occurred as the cabin crew began trolley service, causing chaos on board.
Suze called for Air New Zealand to improve their coffee pots’ design to prevent such accidents from happening in the future. Another flight attendant also suffered injuries when they hit the ceiling of the cabin during turbulence, according to local reports.
Air New Zealand’s chief safety officer emphasized that safety is their top priority, especially in cases of clear-air turbulence. Despite passengers being strapped in for safety, this event serves as a reminder that flight attendants still have to move about the cabin and pose risks to both passengers and crew members.
The aviation industry has been considering ways to mitigate the risk of turbulence recently, including tightening seatbelt rules and using AI to predict when it might occur. Sunday’s event reminds us that even with proper restraints, turbulence can still pose dangers to passengers.
