On 10th July, several netizens took to social media to report that Air China flight no. CA1524 from Shanghai to Beijing experienced severe turbulence mid-air.
Dr. Lida Xing, Associate Professor and Doctoral advisor from School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing (CUGB), who was also on the flight, said that he experienced turbulence and witnessed “the flight attendants and passengers being thrown to the ceiling.”
Xing told Hongxing News that after the turbulence ended, passengers remained seated, and the flight arrived at its scheduled destination in Beijing with only a slight delay. Injured passengers and crew members stayed onboard while others disembarked normally.
According to Xing’s recollection, the flight was not completely full but had a significant number of passengers. At the time of the incident, he was watching a movie with his seatbelt on and was not injured. He recalls two separate moments of turbulence, with the first occurring about half an hour before the scheduled arrival time. During the first bout of turbulence, many passengers got up to use the restroom. The flight attendants instructed everyone to sit down and fasten their seatbelts. A few seconds later, the second round of turbulence occurred, which felt more severe and lasted for several seconds.
Xing told reporters that during the second round of turbulence, one passenger was crouched on the floor, while a flight attendant was holding onto the passenger. The turbulence caused the two to be thrown upwards, hitting the ceiling and breaking a safety light. After the turbulence subsided, flight attendants asked if there were any medical professionals on board, and a female nurse passenger helped two injured passengers stop the bleeding. Xing said that he only saw two injured passengers and that the timely reminder during the first round of turbulence prevented a worse outcome.
