Cancun, Q.R. — Seven people were injured, one of which was hospitalized, after a United flight hit severe turbulence after leaving Cancun. The incident happened Wednesday when United Airlines flight 1196 departed Cancun International bound for Chicago O’Hare.
The plane was in the air less than two hours when it experienced severe turbulence that forced an emergency landing in Memphis. According to the Memphis Fire Department who responded to the airport landing, the Boeing 737 hit turbulence over New Orleans, forcing them to divert to Memphis.
On Wednesday, United Airlines said “United flight 1196 diverted to Memphis after encountering a brief period of severe turbulence while the seatbelt sign was on. Paramedics met the aircraft at the gate and transported one passenger to the hospital.”
According to FlightAware tracking, the pilot made a complete circle to be able to land in Memphis due to the severity of the turbulence.
The plane departed the Cancun airport shortly after noon Wednesday and was carrying 179 passengers and crew at the time of the incident. The six hurt had minor injuries. The one person hospitalized did not have life-threatening injuries.
According to Weather.gov, ‘severe turbulence’ is “large abrupt changed in altitude, large variations in indicated airspeed, aircraft may be momentarily out of control.”
“We’re grateful to our crew for their efforts to ensure the safety of our employees and customers,” United said in a statement before departing Memphis bound for Chicago.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating.
