London - The crisis-hit Malaysia Airlines was at the centre of another drama on Sunday after 34 people were injured during severe turbulence on a flight from London.
Flight MH1 to Kuala Lumpur was over the Bay of Bengal when it suddenly plunged.
Passenger Harith Azman said that two minutes after the seat belt sign was turned on, the jumbo jet started shaking violently and then “dived down”.
He said it was a “very, very chaotic moment” as passengers started screaming and a food trolley and other items seemed to be floating in the air.
After ten seconds, the Airbus A380, which had 378 passengers and crew on board, was brought back under control. Harith, 13, from the Malaysian city of Kuching, said his parents were both using the lavatory at the time and that his father hit his head on the ceiling, but did not require treatment.
Pictures of the drama, put on Twitter by staff, show overturned food trolleys, broken seats and a crack running up the side of an overhead luggage container. The airline said the passengers and crew who were hurt suffered minor injuries and were treated on arrival in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
[News] Malaysia Airlines flight #MH1 experienced severe turbulence injuring 34 passengers and 6 crew members. pic.twitter.com/dXDfew2R2H
— Brendan Grainger (@S118869) June 5, 2016
Malaysia Airlines is still trying to recover from two disasters. Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared in March 2014 after veering off course.
In July that year Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Ukraine by a Russian made missile. A total of 537 passengers and crew were killed.
Commenting on Sunday’s incident, a Malaysia Airlines insider said: “I was not on the flight but in my opinion based on nine years of flying experience, I can safely say that they hit CAT (clear air turbulence).
“The same thing happened to an Etihad flight en-route to Jakarta a few months back. Undetectable by aircraft weather radar, this CAT is a common cause of in-flight injuries. Out of the 34 (who were injured), six of them were crew. Most of them were on their routine duties in the cabin when it happened so were most probably hit by a flying object.”
Julian Bray, an aviation expert, said the incident could have been caused by wind shear – a change in wind speed or direction over a short distance – or by clear air turbulence.
The airline said in a statement: “Due to a brief moment of severe turbulence some passengers suffered minor injuries. Medical crew and senior management met the aircraft on arrival. A small number of affected passengers and crew have been treated by medical officers.”
Daily Mail