CNN
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Chilean aviation authorities are heading to New Zealand to investigate the LATAM flight that crashed into the air on Monday, with teams on the ground removing the plane’s flight data recorder for analysis.
Several passengers told CNN about the frightening flight from Australia to New Zealand, saying the pilot told passengers that one of the Boeing 787’s instruments had malfunctioned and the plane briefly lost control.
Passenger Brian Jocutt told CNN he was roused from his sleep as the plane plummeted nearly 500 feet in an instant, some passengers “clinging to the roof” and falling to the floor.
After landing in Auckland, the pilot checked on the passengers and explained that he briefly lost control of the jet, saying, “The gauges just went blank for a little while.” According to Mr. Giocat.
Dozens of people were injured, and LATAM Airlines reported that a “technical event” had occurred on flight LA800. The airline told CNN that the affected passengers and flight attendants “received immediate assistance and were examined and treated by airport medical staff as necessary,” but did not provide further details. There wasn’t.
This is an incident that happened recently. Boeing, an aircraft manufacturer that has fallen into financial turmoil It has been rocked by years of quality and safety issues.
A team of Chilean aviation authorities is on its way to Auckland to investigate the incident, Chile’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) announced on Tuesday.
The DGAC communications office told CNN that the team is made up of four members and will be given the plane’s flight recorder, commonly known as a black box, for analysis. Engineers from New Zealand are also expected to join the investigation.
On Tuesday, New Zealand authorities said they had already begun work to remove the plane’s flight data recorder for analysis at Chile’s request.
The group of passengers on the plane returned to Chile’s capital Santiago on Tuesday, but Chilean resident Veronica Martinez described the experience as “terrible”.
Everything was normal until the plane “kind of stalled and crashed.” [There were] People are flying, things are flying,” she said from Santiago International Airport.
Martinez said he was not injured because he was wearing his seatbelt, but that he saw several people, including a baby, flying on the plane. She described the moment as a “roller coaster” ride for her.
Another passenger, Diego Valenzuela, also spoke to the media as he left the airport on Tuesday. “For three or four seconds, [it was] There was a free fall and many people were injured afterwards. ”
Both Martinez and Valenzuela said they were relieved to be in Chile.
About 50 people were treated for injuries upon arrival in Auckland, including one in critical condition, Hato Hone St John Ambulance, which provides emergency medical services, told CNN.
The operator said 12 patients were taken to the hospital.