News

Actions

United flight makes emergency landing, several injuries reported

Posted at 7:55 PM, Feb 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-17 20:27:02-05

(CNN) — Three crew members and “a number” of passengers were injured Monday when a United Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence, a spokeswoman for the airline said.

The captain declared an emergency on United Flight 1676, which was flying from Denver, Colorado, to Billings, Montana, said United’s Christen Davis. The flight met turbulence as it descended.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot “declared a medical emergency after a flight attendant was injured by turbulence. The plane landed in Billings without incident.”

There were 114 passengers and five crew members onboard.

“Our primary focus is assisting our employees and passengers who were injured, and our flight safety team will review what happened,” Davis said.

Last month, a United Airlines flight returned to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after turbulence injured five flight attendants.

The plane hit “severe turbulence” about 45 minutes into the Beijing-bound United Flight 89, said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

CNN’s Carma Hassan and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2014 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved