25 hospitalized after turbulence diverts Delta flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

A plane made an emergency landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday after dozens of people were injured by “significant” in-flight turbulence, according to the airline.

The airport says Delta Air Lines Flight 56 en route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam diverted to MSP, landing safely around 7:45 p.m.

The MSP Airport Fire Department and several paramedics responded at the gate, providing initial medical attention to passengers in need. Delta said 25 people were transported to local hospitals for evaluation and care, and most of them were released by Thursday afternoon, including seven crew members. 

Based on preliminary flight data, about 45 minutes into the flight the plane experienced fluctuations in altitude consistent with intense turbulence as it was flying over Wyoming, before changing course for MSP.  

“We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved,” a spokesperson for Delta said. “Safety is our No. 1 value at Delta, and our Delta Care Team is working directly with customers to support their immediate needs.”

The aircraft, an Airbus A330-900, had 275 passengers and 13 crew members on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it will investigate the incident. Delta said the National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating.

Leslie Woods was heading to Amsterdam to visit some friends when all of a sudden, she felt a drop and the drink cart went flying. She said the intermittent turbulence lasted for about a minute. 

“There was a little girl across the aisle from me that was just terrified. 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,” said Woods. “It was like an earthquake. It was just, the plane was shaking so hard and it would stop and it would start again, so it was kind of traumatizing.”

Woods said flight attendants told her that one of the crew members had broken ribs, and someone else had broken their leg. Woods suffered from whiplash, but said she feels lucky to be alive.

Woods said drink cart items went airborne, and a bottle of wine nearly missed her head.

Joseph Carbone was also on the flight and said he had never felt anything like it.

“We’ve flown quite a bit. And, uh, this is nothing like we’ve ever felt before. This was insane. People were flying around, uh, everything that wasn’t nailed down was up in the air,” Carbone said.

He said there were three back-to-back turbulent incidents, each more severe than the last.

“One lady towards the back, she went up, came down, landed on other people,” he said. “My understanding is she broke several ribs.”

A pilot told him there was a drop of more than 1,000 feet, and that he hadn’t seen turbulence that severe before.

“Generally speaking, flying by air is still a safe way to travel, but as the earth warm,s you can expect more of this turbulence we’ve seen,” said John Abraham, an engineering professor at the University of St. Thomas.

Abraham says turbulence is caused by chaotic air motion and it’s not new, but is getting worse, especially turbulence — pilots can’t see or avoid. A warming Arctic is making for a shaky ride.

“What we are finding with climate change is that it is increasing, in fact, by some studies, this clear air turbulence increased by 55% so you can expect bumpier rides in the future,” he said.

A bumpy ride is what climate change feels like thousands of feet in the air. Abraham said, unless we stop warming, the turbulence will continue to get worse.

Experts say using energy more wisely and maximizing clean energy can lead to smoother skies.  

Kris Van Cleave

contributed to this report.