New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) seizes Latin American Airlines black box boeing 787-9 dreamliner to learn more about the sudden fall in which passengers were “bounced” off the plane’s ceiling, injuring at least 50 people, according to witnesses.
On Monday, the flight was heading from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, when LATAM Airlines said the plane experienced a “technical event that caused violent movement during the flight.”
TAIC said on Tuesday it was collecting evidence such as cockpit voice recorders and flight data, commonly known as a black box, to learn more about the flight’s trajectory and communication between the pilots at the time of the accident, Reuters reported. Reuters reported. .
Passengers on the plane said people were thrown from their seats during the incident.
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As paramedics walked through the plane as it landed in Auckland, New Zealand on Monday, they found what appeared to be blood on the passenger’s head. (Brian Adam Jocutt/via Reuters)
“The plane just went down without any warning. I mean, it was an unusual crash in any small turbulence I’ve ever experienced, people were thrown from their seats, they crashed onto the roof of the plane, they crashed into the aisle. ‘I was thrown out,”’ Brian Jocutt, who was on the plane, told Australia’s ABC News.
Ms Jocutt shared an image showing damage to the ceiling of the plane where other passengers were struck. Other images showed passengers with bruises and blood.
Witnesses said the plane suddenly fell into the air and passengers were thrown from their seats, and damage was seen to the plane’s ceiling. (Brian Adam Jocutt/via Reuters)
“Some of the roof panels broke because people were thrown and the walkway broke through the plastic roof panels,” Jocut said. “And there was blood coming out of several people’s heads.”
Mr Giocat said some passengers were not wearing seatbelts when the dive occurred and that he saw the passenger sitting next to him “on the roof of the plane”.
Passengers appear injured after a crash on a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 in Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday. (Brian Adam Jocutt/via Reuters)
“If I had been sitting in my seat, it would have gone straight up to the ceiling and bounced off the roof,” Jocutt said. “I happened to be one of the lucky ones who got caught up in the incident.”
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When the plane landed in Auckland, passengers were met by paramedics and more than 10 emergency vehicles. About 50 people were treated at the scene, mostly for minor injuries, and 13 were hospitalized, an ambulance spokeswoman said.
At least 50 people were injured in what authorities called a “technical event” on a Chilean plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand on Monday. (Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald, via AP)
In Latin America, we are based in Chile. The flight was scheduled to make a scheduled stop in Auckland before heading to Santiago, Reuters reported.
“We regret the inconvenience and injury caused to passengers as a result of this situation, and reiterate our commitment to prioritizing safety within the framework of operational standards,” the airline said in a statement.
A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner seen in Santiago, Chile in March 2019. (Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Image/LightRocket, Getty Images)
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The airline said it was working with authorities to help investigate the incident, but it was not immediately clear whether it had handed over the black box to TAIC.
FOX News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
