Twelve individuals on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Ireland were injured during turbulence, Dublin Airport reported on Sunday. Despite the incident, the plane landed safely and on schedule.
Flight QR017, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, touched down shortly before 1 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), according to the airport. Emergency services, including Airport Police and the Fire and Rescue department, were on standby due to injuries reported by 6 passengers and 6 crew members. The turbulence occurred over Turkey while food and drinks were being served and lasted less than 20 seconds, as recounted by passengers to Irish broadcaster RTE.
Qatar Airways acknowledged that a “small number” of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries and were receiving medical care. The airline mentioned that an internal investigation would be conducted but did not provide specific comments on the turbulence.
This event happened five days after a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore had to make an emergency landing in Bangkok due to severe turbulence, which resulted in the death of a 73-year-old British man and left 20 others in intensive care.
A 2021 study by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board identified turbulence-related accidents as the most common type of airline incident. Between 2009 and 2018, turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents, typically causing serious injuries but no damage to the aircraft.
