Turbulence on a Southwest Airlines jet was so severe during a flight from Boston to Chicago, that it caused the plane to turn around less than an hour after takeoff. Three passengers and two flight attendants were reportedly injured.
Southwest Flight 147 departed Logan International Airport around 11 p.m. Monday with no turbulence mentioned in the forecast. But after about 30 minutes, the plane started shaking violently from heavy turbulence, and that’s when the pilot changed it schedule to return to the airport.
Nurse and passenger Sherry Sanchez, a nurse and passenger on the flights, was credited for helping the injured. She said things got off to a shaky start after takeoff.
“I heard a call overhead for anybody medical, any medical personnel, to please come to the back right away. I’m a nurse, so I went to the back right away. They thought one of the flight attendants might be having a seizure. His eyes were glossed over and he looked like he was going to pass out,” Sanchez said.
The Southwest pilot decided the turbulence on the plane was too much, so he scheduled an emergency landing in Boston where several ambulances were waiting. Only one was transported to the hospital. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson said none of the injuries were serious.
A new flight crew was brought in and 133 passengers made it back to Midway International Airport in Chicago around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, four and a half hours behind schedule.
Butch Mohoi, a passenger on the flight, said the turbulence was serious.
“Everybody was just kind of, ‘Ah!’ and then it was over. A guy in the back of the plane started hollering right away. ‘I need help back here. I need help. I need medical help.’ His buddy, the other flight attendant, got knocked out I guess.”
Things could’ve been a lot scarier.
In 2013, lightning had struck a plane during high turbulence, diverting the unscheduled stop at Newark International Airport. People on the flight knew something happened, and some described it as hearing a bunch of static before a big boom. The did plane land safely with no serious injuries reported.
