American Airlines Flight AA206 Turbulence Injuries, Highlight Importance of Seatbelts

American Airlines Flight AA206 which departed from Miami International Airport with Destination Milan was diverted to St. John’s International Airport due to reported injuries onboard. Airport representatives present reported injuries were due to in-flight turbulence.

#AA206 was over a region of strong turbulence at FL300.
A 0.6 plot of EDR Turbulence shows the risk was there. pic.twitter.com/7DCeWhUcfz

— ian luhm (@ianluhm) January 25, 2016

Here's the route American Airlines flight 206 took Sunday night when diverted to #YYT.https://t.co/WRAexjzZSv pic.twitter.com/FVfHhsudIy

— CBC Newfoundland and Labrador (@CBCNL) January 25, 2016

Playback of #AA206, which diverted to St. John's after turbulence resulting in injuries. https://t.co/Wy61kmIjJh pic.twitter.com/oZFZmCyd0V

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 25, 2016

The latest update, from ABC confirmed with American Airlines was that 4 passengers and 3 crew members were injured. They have been transported to St. John’s Canada area hospital.

@AmericanAir #AA206 passengers spending the next 24 hours in St John’s Newfoundland after plane diverted for turbulence-related injuries.

— newsbellglobal (@newsbellglobal) January 25, 2016

Passengers heading to the Delta hotel in St. John's – only 1 delta for those needing to look up contact info! #cbcnl

— Meghan McCabe (@McCabeMeg) January 25, 2016

For relatives and friends: Delta hotel website here. 

UPDATE: @AmericanAir #AA206: "It rolled on its side, everything went flying. It was pretty intense…" https://t.co/ySyXMlvtOU via @CBCNL

— newsbellglobal (@newsbellglobal) January 25, 2016

After evaluations, four passengers were determined not to have injuries serious enough to required hospital care. “By late Monday morning, the [remaining] two passengers and one flight attendant had been released from hospital in St. John’s,” an American Airlines official told CBC News.

A replacement plane was dispatched to St. John`s from Dallas-Ft. Worth with a new crew and customer service representatives. 

Videos shared on Twitter. All rights to agencies listed.

Short exclusive video of one of the injured being removed from plane. Mandatory credit pic.twitter.com/IvAjXKZ91j

— Keith Gosse (@TelyPhotoGosse) January 25, 2016

These 2 passengers were in business class, describing what happened. #cbcnl pic.twitter.com/HhGjmlTPFb

— Meghan McCabe (@McCabeMeg) January 25, 2016

What you need to know about staying safe during turbulence in flight. 

Air turbulence is as inevitable as the weather. Though all efforts are made to avoid it, sometimes it can be more severe than predicted, or it can be so-called clear-air turbulence, invisible to pilots. Either in its intensity or its occurrence, turbulence can surprise both passengers and crew.

It is always advisable to keep your seatbelt on during the flight while you are seated or sleeping, even if the fasten seatbelt light is turned off.

Cabin crew are at great risk of injuries during these events because their duties require them to be up and about the cabin. IATA advises that crew should take all necessary precautions to protect themselves when flight conditions make continued in-flight service hazardous.

Learn more about the various types of turbulence explained by CASA here.