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'Everything went mad': 2 hospitalized as unstrapped Qantas flyers 'hit the roof' during mid-air turbulence

A cabin crew in her 20s sustained neck pain from the jolt while a flyer in his 50s suffered a cut to his head

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA: A flight attendant and a passenger of a Qantaslink flight had to get admitted to the hospital after surviving severe mid-air turbulence while the plane headed to Hervey Bay from Brisbane. The incident reportedly happened Wednesday afternoon, February 1, while carrying around 40 people. However, the flight safely returned to its start point and landed at Brisbane Airport at 1.47 pm local time.

The passengers were immediately taken care of by Queensland ambulance crews on the tarmac, 7News reported. Seven people reportedly suffered some injuries with two, a worker and a passenger, transported to St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital. They are said to be in stable condition. The cabin crew in her 20s sustained neck pain from the jolt while the flyer in his 50s suffered a cut to his head.

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‘Everyone was scared’

A passenger reportedly shared, “All of a sudden there was just a loud crash and a couple of people weren’t strapped and hit the top, hit the roof.” Another one noted that “everyone was scared” and a flight worker was “knocked about”. People who experienced the roughness said “drinks were flying all through the aircraft,” and “it happened extremely quickly,” Newsweek reported, citing 9News Queensland. 

Some passengers also reportedly stated that “everything went mad and everyone was scared” as “the whole plane started shattering”. Later, flyers were provided with a replacement plane that took them to their destination.

‘And the spiral down continues’

The incident attracted severe criticism online with a user saying, “Wowsers!! That some serious turbulence.” Another commented, “And the spiral down continues.” The third tweeted, “JEEEEBUS!!😱😱😱😱😱.”

Qantas has been under fire recently due to mechanical issues. Last week, a Qantas flight from Sydney to Coffs harbor had to turn back after it faced problems with its landing gear, prompting widespread outrage on Twitter. “All the cutting corners finally catching up,” someone alleged. Another remarked, “🤔 thinking twice before booking with Qantas.” “No word from Alan Joyce @Qantas I’m sure he won’t blame all the costs cutting & outsourcing he’s been doing & getting million dollar bonuses for..” a tweet targeting Chief Executive Officer of Qantas Airways, Alan Joyce, read. Someone else wrote, “Flying in April with @Qantas hopefully their mechanics are back from leave by then!”

“Funny how for decades Qantas has had no problems at all, then suddenly it's almost a daily occurrence. Makes me wonder if there's some sort of sabotage occuring within the mechanic's crew? Perhaps placed there by a rival Australian or international airline?” another tweet speculated, while a comment asserted, “Those turbo-prop toys need to be replaced with jets now that Virgin left the Sydney-Coffs Route. Or maybe Bonza can fill that void, coz both Qantas and Rex are flying the dinosaurs.”

"As long as joyce keeps getting paid millions don't worry about the safety of passengers. Where is joyce ? Comes out to speak about gay marriage, vaccines, vaccinated but when it come to the problems qantas has with its planes all of a sudden, no comment. #Qantas," a critic added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.