MINNEAPOLIS — Passengers aboard last night's flight from Salt Lake City, where 25 people were injured and forced to divert to Minneapolis, say it was unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. One moment they were cruising like any normal flight, the next, they were in chaos.
Seven crew members and 18 passengers ended up at the hospital after the airliner was slammed by extreme turbulence. According to Delta, the crew members and passengers who were willing to share their status had been released from the hospital on Thursday.
However, the impact left by the experience will last a while for many who were looking forward to the flight's intended destination of Amsterdam.
“Being on that plane felt like a rollercoaster," said passenger Ada Stewart.
What started as a trip to visit family in Amsterdam quickly became a wild ride for 21-year-old Stewart.
“It just kept getting worse and worse," she described. "And then out of nowhere... it just.. it felt like we were dropping out of the sky for a second.”
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The University of Utah student was about an hour into the flight when turbulence started, then escalated.
“There were moments where you felt like you left your stomach behind, and you’re just in free fall. Others where it was bumpy and rickety, except this time you can’t see what’s coming next and you have no idea when it’s going to stop,” said Stewart.
Stewart said she was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the incident, but not everyone was.
“There was a guy to my left who was trying to get something outside of the overhead bins, and he was like hanging off for a second,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much people had unsecured. There were keys, suitcases, phones, anything that wasn’t tied down. It was everywhere.”
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Bountiful's Joseph Carbone and his wife were heading to Kenya for a humanitarian project when things took a terrifying turn.
“We hit a third round of turbulence that I really thought would break the plane apart," Carbone confessed. "I have never experienced anything like that before.”
During the unplanned layover, Stewart is staying with family in Minneapolis, while Carbone and his wife are at a hotel. Both plan to catch rebooked flights on Thursday evening.
“It was a fun reminder that, as much as we like to think otherwise, we still haven’t quite perfected all of our technology," said Stewart. "Accidents happen, we’re not perfect, but we continue on anyway.”
Delta plans to get passengers to Amsterdam on a special flight on Thursday evening.
“Right now, I don’t have any fear and no problem with continuing," said Carbone, "but let’s talk later after I get on the plane.”
