JetBlue flight makes emergency landing after plane loses altitude, passengers injured
A JetBlue flight traveling from Mexico to New Jersey on Thursday made an emergency landing after experiencing a drop in altitude, leaving several passengers injured, according to the airline.
The flight landed in Tampa, Florida, where some were transported to the hospital, JetBlue said in a statement.
The flight was traveling from Cancun to Newark when the incident happened.
Pilots told air traffic controllers that at least three passengers were injured with possible lacerations.
The weather in the area was calm, and the pilots told air traffic control the injuries were due to a flight control issue.
Passenger Terrica Turner, who was seated in a middle row close to the back of the plane, told ABC News she was about to order a snack roughly 45 minutes into the flight when suddenly the flight attendant "jerked to the left and then flew up with the cart, and you heard a big bang."
Turner, who was returning from Cancun to celebrate a two-year anniversary with her boyfriend, said she flew up out of her seat for about five to eight seconds, banging her head into the overhead compartment.
"Even with my seat belt on, I did not feel safe," Turner said. "My drink splashed and I slammed back on the table and hit my head."
She compared the sensation to going up "the highest roller coaster ever, and you're at the top, and then you just drop." When she came back down, she said she felt her back crack a bit.
After the emergency landing in Tampa, Turner said people came on board to offer medical help. She estimated they remained on the tarmac for about an hour and a half.
As she and other passengers deplaned, she said some people were in wheelchairs or a neck brace and some gurneys were outside.
"I felt like I was going to die," she said. "My boyfriend was silent in that moment while I was panicking -- he told me like he was just accepting it."
The Airbus A320 was headed to Newark Liberty International Airport and has now been grounded while the Federal Aviation Administration and JetBlue investigate.
