TAMPA, Fla. — Multiple people were injured Wednesday when an Allegiant Airlines flight hit turbulence during a flight to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
The FAA said Allegiant Air Flight 227 encountered turbulence while on approach to the airport at around 3:45 p.m. The flight, carrying 179 passengers and six crew members, left from Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina bound for St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Allegiant Airlines said.
The plane landed normally and taxied to the gate under its own power, where medical crews were waiting for the injured crew members and passengers.
According to Allegiant Airlines, the two passengers and two flight attendants were taken to local hospitals for further evaluation.
Lisa Spriggs, a passenger on the flight, described the experience as "petrifying."
"More than halfway through descending, and all of a sudden, we hit a small turbulence, and the stewardess beside us fell to the ground," Spriggs said. "And it was like 'The Matrix.' [We] watched her go up in the air and land straight down."
Another passenger said people were left bloodied and some even broke bones.
"Yeah, some lady was in the bathroom during the time of the turbulence, and she came out and sat down behind me and she had a huge laceration on her right eyebrow, gushing out blood," he said.
It's an ordeal Spriggs was grateful wasn't worse.
"You hear about it happening, but you never think 'Oh that's the TV, it's movies.' But it's terrifying," she said.
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