Flight HA35 “ran through severe turbulence” shortly before landing, the company tweeted.
“Several passengers and crew received medical treatment at the airport for minor injuries, but others were quickly taken to hospital,” Hawaiian Airlines added.
The aircraft, an Airbus A330-200, was carrying 278 passengers and 10 crew members. A total of 36 people were treated, including some suffering from nausea and minor injuries, said during a press conference Jim Ireland, director of the emergency department of Honolulu, capital of this American state in the Pacific.
Aircraft inspection required
Of this number, “20 had to be hospitalized, including 11 for serious injuries and 9 for minor injuries”, he added. Some were injured in the head.
Three crew members are among the injured hospitalized, according to the airline’s operations manager, Jon Snook, who noted that the weather had been particularly unstable in recent days in Hawaii but that such incidents were “relatively rare. “. “This is the first time this kind of incident has happened in recent memory,” he added.