BOSTON (WHDH) – A JetBlue plane hit turbulence Thursday night flying out of Boston, sending 22 passengers and two flight crew members to the hospital.
Passengers said the turbulence started about two hours into the flight.
The flight to Sacramento was diverted to Rapid City, South Dakota.
One woman was taken off the plane in a neck brace.
All the victims were treated for minor injuries and have been released from the hospital.
Rhonda Lynam was on her way home to California from a family reunion in Massachusetts.
“It was like we were in an elevator that dropped and actually hit the bottom, that’s the force that it felt like,” she said. “I thought we were dying.”
JetBlue transported most of the passengers to California eight hours later, but some passengers were left behind.
Some passengers were treated on board by an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Alan Lee, who was trained in Boston and happened to be passenger.
“All three of the flight attendants were actually standing it the back and with the force of the turbulence it sent them up and they hit the ceiling,” he said. “There was a hole in one of the ceiling tiles.”
JetBlue is offering passengers $200 or more to use on future flights.
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