More than a dozen people were left injured after a Korean Air flight struck severe turbulence over the weekend — sending passengers crashing into overhead bins and food flying around the cabin.
The chaotic mid-flight scenes erupted when Flight 197, which was carrying 281 passengers, encountered rough conditions shortly after taking off from South Korea’s Incheon Airport on Sunday, the JoongAng Daily reported.
Ten passengers and four flight attendants suffered back and neck injuries when the plane — en route to Mongolia — suddenly started to shake violently for roughly 15 seconds during the meal service.
“People who weren’t wearing seat belts shot up into the air,” said passenger Kim Hae-in, a travel blogger.
“One passenger bounced really high, hit their head on the ceiling and dropped into the aisle.”
“The turbulence started around the time people were finished eating,” another passenger added. “The airplane sharply plunged so people were screaming and the meals were all knocked over, it was chaotic.”
Photos of the aftermath showed food, cutlery and trays strewn throughout the aisles.
The injured were given pain medication until they landed safely at Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar airport and could be assessed by medics, a Korean Air spokesperson said.
None of the passengers suffered severe injuries, the airline rep added.
“We advise passengers to minimize moving around the plane while it is in the air and to always fasten their seat belts when seated,” the airline said in a statement.
The latest incident comes just days after Korean Air revealed it would no longer provide economy class passengers with instant noodles on long-haul flights in a bid to prevent burn incidents during turbulence.
The airline said it was cutting Shin Ramyun — a spicy noodle dish that requires boiling water to prepare — from its in-flight snack offerings from Aug. 15 “in response to the increasing trend of turbulence.”
The move comes after a Singapore Airlines flight encountered a severe turbulence incident in May that left a 73-year-old British man dead and injured scores of others when they were thrown from their seats.
