Multiple flights diverted to Waco, Texas due to turbulence
Five passengers were transported to the hospital, SkyWest said, though the airline did not provide any more information on their conditions.
A United Airlines flight from Springfield, Missouri, to Houston, Texas, was diverted to Waco Regional Airport due to severe turbulence. Five people were injured and transported to the hospital for treatment. (Photo credit: KXXV via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — Several flights were diverted to an airport in the city of Waco in central Texas after being buffeted by turbulence stemming from a nearby storm system late Sunday.
Houston-bound SkyWest flight 5690, operating as a United Express flight, was forced to land at Waco Regional Airport after experiencing turbulence on its way from Springfield, Missouri, SkyWest Airlines said in a statement to CNN.
Five passengers were transported to the hospital, SkyWest said, though the airline did not provide any more information on their conditions.
The flight was carrying 28 passengers and three crew, CNN affiliate KYTV reported, citing emergency officials. It landed safely and medical personnel met and evaluated passengers, SkyWest said.
The two other flights diverted to Waco Regional Airport were American Airlines aircraft bound for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
“Due to storms at DFW, two flights briefly diverted to Waco and later re-departed,” an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, without giving further details.
The inclement weather was brought on by a weak storm system moving across parts of northern Texas through the day Sunday. The storm is one of two set to move across the region this week, with the second storm to impact the South on Monday and ramp up in intensity as it moves to the Lower Mississippi River Valley on Tuesday.
After recent turbulence-related injuries on flights, AccuWeather’s Emmy Victor looks at what causes turbulence and how passengers can stay safe while traveling.
Sunday’s flight diversions come amid a string of incidents involving aircraft safety in recent weeks. Among them are a deadly midair collision over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a Medevac jet crash in Philadelphia, and a regional airline crash off the coast of Nome, Alaska, that killed 10 people.
Last month, a plane crashed while landing in Toronto, catching fire and flipping upside-down as a wing broke away from the fuselage. All 80 people on board survived.
Over the weekend, a Delta airlines flight to New Orleans was forced to return to Boston after a “smoky odor” was detected in the aircraft’s cabin.
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