WFTS
Allegiant Air planes are seen at St. Petersburg Clearwater International Airport on Wednesday
CNN
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Four people on board an Allegiant Airlines flight to Florida are being investigated for injuries after it encountered severe turbulence on Wednesday afternoon, the airline said.
Allegiant Air Flight 227After taking off from Asheville, N.C., the airline “experienced severe turbulence prior to landing” at St. Pete Clearwater International Airport, aviation spokesman Andrew Polello said.
The plane, which carried 179 passengers and six crew members, “landed normally and taxied to the gate under its own power,” Polello said.
Polello said two passengers and two flight attendants were taken to a hospital for evaluation after being checked for injuries by airport paramedics, but did not elaborate on the injuries or condition of the four. rice field.
St. Pete Clearwater Airport spokeswoman Michelle Routh told CNN that the injuries were believed to be relatively minor.
Flight passenger Lisa Spriggs said the turbulence was “terrifying.”
“Suddenly, halfway through the descent, we encountered a small turbulence that knocked the stewardess next to us to the ground,” Spriggs said. CNN affiliate WFTS.
“And then we got into a lot of petrifying turbulence, and she was literally like The Matrix. I saw her go up in the air and she landed straight down,” Spriggs said.
The Airbus A320 crew reported turbulence as it approached the Florida airport around 3:45 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Neither the FAA nor Polello, which said they would investigate the incident, released further details about what happened.
Polello said Allegiant is working with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the incident.
