Severe turbulence on Delta flight forces emergency landing and sends more than two dozen on board to hospitals

CNN

By Matt Rehbein, Hanna Park, Martin Goillandeau, Lauren Mascarenhas, Mike Figliola, Mary Gilbert, CNN

(CNN) — Some passengers were terrified, convinced the plane was going down. One seasoned traveler said it was the roughest flight he’d ever taken. A woman on board felt like she was experiencing an earthquake.

Severe turbulence struck a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam Wednesday, sending service carts and unbelted passengers into the air and forcing an emergency landing in Minnesota, where 25 people on board were taken to hospitals.

Delta said flight DL56 landed safely at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and was met by medical teams upon arrival. Video shows fire rescue vehicles waiting on the tarmac as the plane made its landing.

When the turbulence hit, Joseph Carbone grabbed his wife’s hand and braced for the worst.

“I truly thought the plane was going to go down,” the passenger told CNN.

As items flew into the air and passengers around him screamed, Carbone watched as a “flight attendant just about crashed into the ceiling.”

The flight likely hit severe turbulence over an area of southwestern Wyoming that had been identified as a potential trouble spot by federal aviation forecasters earlier in the day.

Twenty-five on board the flight were taken to area hospitals “for evaluation and care,” Delta said in a statement.

All crew members and those passengers “willing to share their status” had been released as of noon Thursday, Delta said.

“All seven crew members who were taken to area hospitals after the flight landed were treated and released by Thursday morning. All customers who were evaluated at the hospital and willing to share their status with Delta have also been released,” the airline said.

The plane was carrying 275 customers and 13 crew members, according to Delta. It’s unclear whether all passengers taken to area hospitals have been released.

The health systems HealthPartners and Allina Health told CNN Thursday morning that they were assessing and treating passengers from the flight.

“The overwhelming majority of the folks taken to the hospital for evaluation and treatment have been released,” a Delta spokesperson told CNN earlier Thursday morning.

‘We kissed the ground’ after getting off plane

Carbone said the turbulence hit in three waves: “bad, to worse and way worse.”

The pilot apologized over the intercom, explaining that they were flying above an altitude where most storms hit and the turbulence was unexpected, Carbone said.

“After we got off the plane, we kissed the ground, and Delta took us to the Delta Lounge and got us hotels and rebooked our flights,” he said.

Another passenger, William Webster, told CNN he takes about 80 flights a year, but what he experienced on board was “the craziest turbulence I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I felt the centrifugal force. I was off my seat for like 30 seconds with the turbulence,” he said.

People were screaming as phones and other items were thrown into the air, Webster said.

“I watched a wine cart just get thrown into the air,” he said, noting that with his seatbelt on, he was able to grab his phone and an empty champagne glass to keep them from flying away. Webster said he was not injured.

Another passenger, Leslie Woods, said the turbulence felt like an earthquake.

“There was a little girl across the aisle from me that was just terrified,” Woods told CNN affiliate WCCO. “She’s screaming ‘we’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to die,’ so I was trying to keep her calm, and I really thought we were going to die. It was that scary.”

Ricardo Hoogesteger was headed back home on the flight to Amsterdam when he experienced “severe turbulence, losing altitude, feeling weightless multiple times, flying carts and getting completely soaked during the flight,” he told CNN.

Bottles, cups, and other items from a serving cart were thrown on the seats and floor – and Hoogesteger’s clothes, which he said were drenched with a mix of coffee, orange juice and wine.

Hoogesteger commended Delta staff for helping passengers through the bumpy ride.

A couple on the flight told ABC News that dinner service had just started when the turbulence hit.

“If you didn’t have your seat belt on, everyone that didn’t, they hit the ceiling and then they fell to the ground, and the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground and people were injured,” Leeann Clement-Nash told ABC News.

“And it happened several times, so it was really scary,” Clement-Nash added.

The plane landed around 7:25 p.m. local time, a spokesperson for the airport told CNN, confirming the flight was diverted “due to reported in-flight turbulence that caused injuries on board.”

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport Fire Department and paramedics met the plane at the gate and provided “initial medical attention to passengers in need,” before some were taken to hospitals, the airport spokesperson said.

“We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved,” Delta said.

Aviation forecasters warned of thunderstorms

A Salt Lake City branch of the National Weather Service’s aviation unit warned of thunderstorm potential Wednesday, noting that severe weather was possible across Wyoming.

An aviation weather advisory for significant meteorological hazards, known as a SIGMET, was in effect when the turbulence occurred over southern Wyoming. The advisories alert pilots to severe weather events like thunderstorms or strong turbulence.

Thunderstorms were developing in much of Wyoming Wednesday evening and some in the southwestern part of the state had grown to 35,000 to 40,000 feet tall when the aircraft experienced turbulence, according to a CNN analysis of archived weather radar data.

The aircraft was at about 35,000 feet when it experienced the severe turbulence, according to a CNN analysis of flight data.

Rising and falling air within thunderstorms is very turbulent and can be extremely dangerous to aircraft.

Aviation authorities investigate

According to data from flight tracking site Flightradar24, the flight climbed by more than 1,000 feet in less than 30 seconds roughly 40 minutes after its departure. It then descended approximately 1,350 feet over the next 30 seconds.

Soon after, the plane altered its course in the direction of Minneapolis-St. Paul, where it landed safely about an hour and a half later, the data shows.

The National Transportation Safety Board told CNN it is investigating and expects a preliminary report to be ready in about a month.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the plane landed safely in St. Paul after the crew reported “severe” turbulence. The agency said it will investigate.

The FAA says turbulence is normal and happens often, but it can sometimes be dangerous, especially for those not wearing seat belts.

Last year, seven people were injured when severe turbulence rocked a United Airlines flight from Cancún to Chicago, forcing an emergency landing in Memphis, Tennessee. Five people were taken to the hospital last month, after severe turbulence hit an American Airlines flight from Miami to Raleigh, North Carolina. And in March, several flights were diverted to Waco, Texas, due to turbulence on their routes, and five passengers were taken to the hospital.

In 2024, 23 people – 20 of whom were crew members – were seriously injured in turbulence events, according to FAA data.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s David Williams, Brynn Gingras, Sara Smart and Sara Finch contributed to this report.