Some videos posted online after the landing showed blood on the seats. Another video showed a man trapped in the overhead luggage compartment, trying to get out with the help of other passengers. We also saw a torn-up interior: destroyed ceiling panels, hanging equipment, broken seats.

Details of the incident

According to reports, the Air Europa Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight UX045 from Madrid to Montevideo crashed. One of the passengers on the plane said that the captain announced that everyone should fasten their seat belts due to turbulence, but after about 20 minutes, people lost their attention because the turbulence was so light.

At some point people started to relax. People walked without belts
– said the interlocutor to the Uruguayan Telemundo journalists.

The plane then began to descend rapidly, lifting people into the air – including, according to the passenger, an elderly man and a small child – literally flying into the air. The man, who was trapped in the overhead luggage compartment, was walking down the aisle when the incident occurred.

Part of the journalistic story showing the moment the man was pulled out of the trunk: video

As the New York Times noted, authorities in Brazil, where the plane was forced to make an emergency landing, said some passengers had “neck and skull fractures.” Several more had other head and chest injuries. Others were lucky enough to have only a shock — that is, those who were not wearing their seat belts.

Turbulence will get worse

Severe turbulence has been in the news a lot this year, and even one person died on a Singapore Airlines flight in May. Shortly after that, a flight attendant broke her back on a flight in Turkey that was hit by severe turbulence.

Serious injuries from turbulence are rare; 163 serious injuries were reported from 2009 to 2022. But there are signs that turbulence is getting strongerThis could become a problem for the future of air transportation.

The culprit is, of course, global warming and the increase in carbon dioxide content, which affects the planet’s air currents. According to calculations, light turbulence will occur 59% more often, medium 94%, and strong 149%.