Thirty-eight people were injured on a United Airlines flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Washington, D.C. this week after what the airline described as “technical issues and unexpected aircraft movement,” Nigerian authorities said. announced. ”
Six people were treated in hospital for injuries, Nigerian authorities and the airline said.
United said the injuries to the six players were “minor,” but Nigerian authorities described them as “serious.” Nigerian authorities also said 32 other people on the plane suffered minor injuries.
Videos and images on social media showed distress and confusion on the plane, with passengers talking to each other as trays of food and meals were strewn about.
United Airlines did not provide details about what it described as a “technical issue” or the scope or potential cause of the movement, but said it was investigating the issue.
The airline said it was “working with aviation authorities in the United States and Nigeria to determine the cause.”
The Federal Aviation Administration referred questions to the airline and Nigerian authorities.
The flight departed Nigeria on Thursday night and was headed to Washington Dulles International Airport, but was forced to return to Lagos for an emergency landing early Friday. The aircraft was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 245 passengers and 11 crew members on board.
The plane was flying over Ivory Coast when it returned to Nigeria, according to information from FlightRadar24, a website that compiles publicly available information on aircraft locations, flight paths and altitudes.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria announced on social media that four passengers and two crew members were seriously injured. An additional 27 passengers and five crew members suffered minor injuries, the statement said. The nature of the injury was not disclosed.
“Those with minor injuries received first aid and were quickly discharged, while those with serious injuries were transferred to Duchess Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos State, where their condition stabilized,” the official said. There was no major damage to the aircraft.
Four passengers and two flight attendants have been released from the hospital, United Airlines representatives said in an emailed statement Saturday.
The incident occurred about 90 minutes after takeoff, when the plane nosedived, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Jeff Gazzetti, a former accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, said Saturday that the United Airlines passenger plane and the Latam Airlines plane that crashed suddenly on a flight to Auckland, New Zealand, in March, injuring dozens of people. He pointed out the similarities with the airliner episode. Number of passengers.
“The public may not know the cause for several weeks to a month, but law enforcement will know within days,” Guzzetti said. “They will download the flight data recorder, interview the flight crew, and also listen to the cockpit voice recorder.”
Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., said the episode was “Passengers stay seated as much as possible on an airplane, even if the captain has cut their seatbelts.'' “It highlights the fact that we need to continue to wear our belts.” seat belt light. ”
