Eleven people were injured when a Lufthansa flight from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt hit severe turbulence while travelling over the Atlantic. The injured persons include five passengers and six crew members.
"Unfortunately, five passengers and six crew members suffered mostly minor injuries," a Lufthansa spokesperson told news agency Reuters on Tuesday.
According to the airlines, the Boeing 747-8 was carrying 329 passengers and 19 crew members on the day of the incident. "The safety of the flight was not in jeopardy at any time," the spokesperson added.
The turbulence was brief and occurred in an intertropical convergence zone. The injured were given medical treatment as soon as the aircraft landed safely at its planned destination on November 12 at 10:53 AM (0953 GMT), the airline said.
In May, a passenger on the Singapore Airlines plane died after suffering a suspected heart attack, while 30 others were injured when the flight gaced severe turbulence by an air pocket over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar at 37,000 feet.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 211 passengers, who were mostly from Britain, Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. The plane also had 18 crew members on board.
The deceased passenger was a 73-year-old man from Gloucestershire and was on his way to a holiday in Australia with his wife when the turbulence struck the aircraft. According to Thai authorities, he had a heart condition and probably suffered a heart attack, The Guardian reported.
The flight, which took off from London, was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok after the incident. The passengers reportedly suffered brain, skull, and spine injuries due to the extreme jolts.
In another similar incident, 12 people were injured when Qatar Airway's flight from Doha to Dublin was struck by severe turbulence. 40 other passengers sustained injuries when an Air Europa plane from Madrid to Montevideo was struck by strong turbulence in July. The aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Brazil.