Two cabin crew members were injured 20 minutes into an easyJet flight when the plane was hit with strong turbulence, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Rome.
On the flight from Corfu to London on Monday, the crew members were in the middle of serving food to the 181 passengers on board when they were injured.
They were thrown against the sides of the plane during the turbulence, the Mail Online reported, although extent of the injuries sustained is unknown.
The aircraft was shaken by the turbulence only 20 minutes into the flight while it was travelling at around 485mph at an altitude of 28,000 feet.
The Airbus A320 had departed Corfu at around 12.45pm local time, intending to fly to London Gatwick, but the flight was cut short with the plane landing at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport just over an hour later, data from FlightRadar24 shows.
Passengers were met by easyJet crew and airport staff to provide immediate assistance.
While the injured flight attendants received medical attention, a replacement crew was arranged to allow passengers to continue to London Gatwick. The aircraft remained parked in Rome the day after for safety checks.
An easyJet spokeswoman told the Mail Online that “the flight on August 19 experienced turbulence which unfortunately injured two cabin crew members.”
“’As a result, the captain decided to divert the flight to Rome, where the flight attendants received medical assistance,” she continued. “The safety and well-being of our customers and crew are easyJet’s top priority, and our pilots are trained to manage turbulence.”
Italy’s Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority (ANSV) said they are investigating the incident as the flight encountered turbulence in Italian airspace.
Due to the “type and severity of the injuries suffered” and International Civil Aviation Organization and EU regulations, the ANSV said they “ordered the opening of a safety investigation classifying the event as an accident”.
There have been several turbulence-related incidents this year. A British man died and dozens of passengers were injured on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 flight in May when sudden turbulence hit the aircraft while flying over Myanmar.
The plane dropped around 6,000 feet in three minutes, with passengers sustaining head injuries after making impact with the ceiling. Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, suffered suspected heart attack as a result of the incident.
A week later 12 passengers were injured when a flight from Doha to Dublin encountered turbulence.