Another intense turbulence episode yesterday on a transatlantic flight resulted in something I have never seen before: a man literally stuck in the aircraft ceiling above the overhead bin.
Air Europa 787 Encounters Severe Turbulence, Injuring 36 And Sending One Man Flying Into The Aircraft Ceiling
On Monday, July 1, 2024 Air Europa flight UX045 took off from Madrid (MAD) for Montevideo, Uruguay (MVD). A Boeing 787-9 aricraft operated the flight. While flying at 36,000 feet through the notorious Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), more than four hours into the flight, severe turbulence occurred, injuring 36 (23 required hospitalization).
Some have reported that the man became stuck in the overhead bin, but it looks to me like the passenger flew into the ceiling area above the overhead bin, with the force of the impact dislodging the plastic ceiling panel and exposing wiring and the actual composite metal aircraft ceiling above it.
Yet another incident challenging the aviation safety, that demands definitive solutions. Below are the list and links of 15 recent Turbulence events, as we observe more such phenomenon regularly and globally.
July 01, 2024 : Turbulence that hit an Air Europa Boeing 787-9… https://t.co/xc9Ux0DUnm pic.twitter.com/CUIA7SwrPu
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) July 1, 2024
As you can see (the photo below is from when I flew Air Europa), the overhead bins are such the there is a ceiling space above the overhead bins.
The flight diverted to Natal, Brazil (NTI), the closest airport, where the aircraft remains on the ground. Air Europa dispatched a “rescue flight” to nearby Recife, Brazil (REC) for those able to continue the journey to Uruguay.
Returning to the man who became stuck: I’m glad he is okay. But I’d have to imagine he was not wearing a seatbelt. That’s a dangerous bet, especially when traveling through the ITCZ. Whenever you are seated on an aircraft, you should wear a seatbelt. Better safe than sorry.
Think how bad the turbulence must have been for that man to fly up and into the ceiling. Skipping your seatbelt is no laughing matter…
Hope he’s alright. Found that European carriers are a bit more lax with the seat belt sign button but if there’s turbulence, it’s usually on immediately. At the end of the day, this shows why you should be in your seat with your seatbelt fastened when there’s turbulence.
bonk
If I’m in my seat, I’m buckled in whether I’m dosing/sleeping or not. It only takes a few seconds for disaster to hit
If on a U.S. carrier the FA would have come running to scream that he is too big to fit in the overhead and must be checked. Or, more likely, just left him there and said, ‘it’s not my job to extract people from overheads.”