▶ Watch Video: Multiple people hurt after flight from Colombia to NY diverts to MIA
Eight people were taken to Miami hospitals early Friday morning after a flight to New York City was forced to divert to Miami International Airport due to severe turbulence, according to officials.
According to officials at Miami International Airport, Avianca Flight 42 was headed from Medellín, Colombia, to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when the severe turbulence was reported.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the flight landed safely at MIA around 3:30 a.m. According to MDFR, eight people were injured, with one of those needing to be brought to a trauma center.
However, airline officials told CBS News Miami that nine people – three crew members and six passengers – were hurt.
“This is an international flight; it was coming from Medellin to New York City, meaning it’s governed by the Montreal convention,” said aviation attorney Pablo Rojas.
Rojas was referring to the Montreal Convention of 1999 (MC99), an international treaty that sets rules for airlines when handling international passenger injuries, deaths, or damage.
On Friday evening, Jackson Memorial Hospital confirmed that seven people were under its care and that they had since been discharged. The status of the eighth injured is unknown.
One passenger at Miami International Airport, when the Avianca flight arrived, said she saw several ambulances waiting to treat the injured.
“When we arrived, when we landed, we saw that very close to where we were going to disembark, there were more than five or six ambulances. Seven of them with their lights on as if they were waiting for something,” passenger Maria Paula Jimenez told CBS News Miami in Spanish. “When we arrived, well, you know, it wasn’t normal.”
Avianca officials said the remaining passengers were being assisted by the airline’s airport team in making the necessary arrangements to continue their journey to New York City.
The Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News Miami that the agency would be investigating the incident.
