US flight makes emergency landing in Ireland; 12 sent to hospital

By Carol Jordan, Jason Hanna and Alison Daye

CNN

Severe turbulence rocked a Houston-to-London flight over the Atlantic, forcing its pilots to make an emergency landing in Ireland early Wednesday and sending 12 people to a hospital — a flight one passenger called the most disturbing he’d taken in decades.

United Airlines Flight 880 landed unscheduled at western Ireland’s Shannon Airport shortly before 6 a.m. local time so that people could receive medical treatment after “severe and unexpected turbulence,” the airline said.

The shaking began overnight about halfway over the Atlantic while many passengers were asleep, followed by “four very, very severe drops in altitude,” passenger Gregory Giagnocavo told CNN after landing in Ireland.

“It was the most frightening and disturbing flight I’ve been on in 30 years,” Giagnocavo said.

The Boeing 767-300 was carrying 207 passengers and 13 crew members. After it landed, 10 passengers and two flight attendants were taken to a hospital, United said.

Three children were among them, University Hospital Limerick said. The 12 were treated primarily for soft tissue injuries, minor head injuries and lacerations, the hospital said.

By late Wednesday morning, only a flight attendant remained in the hospital, according to the airline. The plane resumed its flight to Heathrow at 12:11 p.m. (7:11 a.m. ET).

Giagnocavo said the scene on the plane was “pure chaos” before the emergency landing.

“(A) flight attendant was cut on the side of her head, and blood was running down her arm,” he said. “Babies crying — and quite a few people very shook up. Loose things seem to be everywhere.

“Fortunately it occurred when most people were sleeping, so most people were in their seats with seat belts on.”

United Airlines “is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA880,” airline spokeswoman Erin Benson said.