Posted by mbrickley | Posted in General, Personal Injury Cases in the News
Almost everyone flies at some point these days, and in our modern, fast-paced society, travelers wish to arrive at destinations the quickest way possible.
Some may have fears about planes crashing - but even the experience of a bumpy ride can be disconcerting.
According to a Washington Post report, in the past year, there have been eight incidents in which passengers suffered serious injuries from turbulence, and 42 incidents where minor injuries have occurred from rough rides in the air.
The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) reports that turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to both passengers and airline staff. For some it has caused severe injuries and there are even reports of death.
One Florida woman found out the dangers of turbulence on her flight back to Tampa, Fla. Jeanne Holton Carufel was using the restroom on a United Airlines flight when she heard the announcement to stay in your seats and to buckle the seat belts as the flight was experiencing turbulence. But unfortunately she did not arrive to her seat in time and suffered injuries to her head and back.
According to the Washington Post Holten Carufel said she “couldn’t’ get back to her seat fast enough. The plane took a big dive and she hit the roof of the plane and fell back to the ground.”
The paramedics arrived at the airport at 9:30 p.m. when the plane landed, and Holten Carufel was taken to the Reston Hospital Center where she was treated for her head and back injuries. She was never actually admitted to the hospital for these injuries, and was set to fly home a couple days after the incident.
The New York Times reports that most turbulence-related injuries occur when people are not seated with their seatbelts securely fastened. In most cases flight attendants advise fliers to remain seated during the flight especially if turbulence occurs, but they do not force anyone to take a seat.
United Airlines did confirm there was turbulence but will not release any other information about the flight. There is no information as to whether any personal injury lawsuits have been filed or even if they could be - since sufficient warnings are issued by the airlines when turbulence occurs.
Several years ago I was aboard a commercial flight from BOS to MCO. Prior to reaching the front of a very strong jet streak and in the region where alerts to aviators were posted for moderate to severe (called METARS) turbulence, the captain turned off the seat belt sign “the flight before us says that it’s a smooth ride”. Within a short time, as several people walked the aisleway, we suddenly rose rapidly as in a fast elevator and then fell rapidly as being dropped from a roof. Those who were walking went to the ceiling and were slammed to the ground as we quickly began to rise again. The process was repeated twice more before we flew into more stable air. Several people were hurt in the incident. Sometimes the flight crews put too much faith in the other pilot reports. They should have been more cautious in such a zone.
I ran out of space but the point of my message is that this technology would likely have detected this region and the crew might then have either asked ATC for a deviation or at least would have keep the seat belt sign on.