- Were you on board the flight? Email david.averre@mailonline.co.uk
At least two people have been injured on an EasyJet flight from Corfu to London that hit brutal turbulence, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing.
The British airline’s Airbus A320 departed Corfu Airport in Greece at 12:44 p.m. local time on Monday and was headed to London Gatwick with 181 passengers and crew on board.
But just 20 minutes into the flight, the EasyJet plane hit turbulence while flying at 485mph and at an altitude of 28,000ft.
Two cabin crew members who were preparing to serve food to passengers were violently slammed into the walls of the plane, suffering injuries so serious that the pilots decided to make an emergency landing at Rome’s Fiumicino airport so they could receive immediate medical attention.
At least two people were injured on an EasyJet flight from Corfu to London
Flight tracking data showed the plane deviating from its flight path and landing at an airport near Rome.
The passengers were met by easyJet crew and airport staff and received immediate assistance upon landing in Rome.
The injured flight attendants received immediate medical attention, while a replacement crew and aircraft were arranged to allow passengers to continue to London Gatwick on Monday afternoon.
The plane involved in the incident remained parked in Rome the day after the incident for security checks.
An easyJet spokeswoman confirmed the incident in a statement, saying: ‘The flight on 19 August experienced turbulence which sadly injured two cabin crew members.
‘As a result, the captain decided to divert the flight to Rome, where the flight attendants received medical assistance.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s top priority, and our pilots are trained to handle turbulence.”
Meanwhile, Italy’s aviation safety agency ANSV said it had launched an investigation into the incident to determine whether the turbulence was a sudden and unforeseeable event, known as “clear air turbulence,” or whether it was visible on the plane’s weather radar but underestimated by the pilots.
“Given the type and severity of the injuries reported, we have launched a safety investigation, classifying the event as an ‘accident’,” ANSV said in a press release, but added that investigators will need to clarify why the pilots chose to divert to Rome instead of the closer airports of Bari or Brindisi.