FRIGHT FLIGHT

Panic broke out, thousands of feet in the air, when the turbulence caused the aircraft to shake and rattle. Most of the injuries were for minor bumps and bruises while the three who were sent to Hospital, were all discharged after being medically examined.

At 9 pm, pilots contacted the Air Traffic Controller tower at Piarco International Airport to advise that they had experienced severe turbulence while en route from Miami to Port of Spain and were requesting medical crews to be on standby to render assistance when the aircraft lands.

Emergency response systems were activated and when the aircraft touched down at 9.33 pm, medics sprang into action to assist the passengers, some weeping as they recounted the fright flight. The three passengers who were sent to Arima Hospital, were all discharged at 2 am yesterday. “It was the scariest moment of our lives,” said a passenger who wrote of the experience on his Facebook account.

“If you only knew what happened inside that plane...for a few moments we all thought ‘this was it’, we’re all gonna die,” he wrote. Another passenger wrote, “I hope I never have to encounter this again in my lifetime. I maintain that it was not just turbulence that caused this.” Sources told Newsday yesterday that the plane could have experienced an instance of “clear air turbulence” – turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual clues such as clouds. Just like regular turbulence it is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet.

Sources said that it is the usual policy when observing evidence of turbulence, to ensure that all passengers have their seatbelts on, and keep them on until the plane lands. Newsday was told that if the pilots of the plane saw any indication that there would be turbulence, they would immediately defer to protocol. American Airlines officials in Trinidad declined to comment on the matter.