5 passengers injured in severe turbulence on United flight, forcing emergency landing in Texas
A United Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing in Waco, Texas, on Sunday evening after it hit severe turbulence that injured five passengers, officials said.
SkyWest flight 5690, which was operating as United Express, a United Airlines regional flight service network, took off from Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri at 4:48 p.m. C.T. and was headed to George Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to data on FlightAware.com.
The Bombardier CRJ-200 experienced turbulence while en route and had to make an emergency landing at Waco Regional Airport, SkyWest Airlines said in a statement shared with NBC News.
SkyWest did not clarify where the flight hit rough air.
“Medical personnel met and evaluated passengers, and five passengers were transported to the hospital,” the statement read. “SkyWest and United are making sure all customers get the care they need and dispatched another aircraft to fly the customers from Waco to Houston.”
The five passengers had minor injuries, per the airline. There were a total of 29 passengers and three crew members on the flight.
The Waco Fire Department responded to the plane with five units and 13 personnel, according to Acting Fire Chief Robby Bergerson.
A flight took off from Waco to Houston at 1:17 a.m. C.T. on Monday, according to FlightAware.com.
This is yet another aviation incident that has made news recently.
On Saturday, a FedEx cargo plane traveling from Newark to Indianapolis struck a bird during takeoff, prompting an emergency landing.
A week ago, a Delta Air Lines flight returned to Atlanta after its crew reported “possible smoke” in the aircraft.
The day before that, an American Airlines flight traveling from New York to New Delhi was diverted to Rome after a bomb threat was made against the aircraft.
