At least 50 people were injured when a plane dramatically dropped during a flight, meaning some passengers "bounced off the roof".
The LATAM Airlines plane was traveling between Australia and New Zealand when it experienced turbulence - unlike anything you might be used to on a normal journey.
“The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, thrown down the aisles,” passenger Brian Jokat told ABC news in Australia on Tuesday.
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The Chilean plane later landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled and was due to continue on to Santiago, Chile.
But the flight itself sounds like carnage, with Jokat continuing: “Some of the roof panels were broken from people being thrown up and knocking through the plastic roof panels in the aisle ways. And there was blood coming from several people’s heads.”
According to passenger reports, lots of people weren't wearing seatbelts - and they were caught off-guard when the plane suddenly dropped.
“If you were in your seat, you went straight up to the ceiling and bounced off the roof. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones who was strapped in for that incident,” Jokat told ABC.
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Footage from the flight is pretty unsettling - showing the aftermath of the plane suddenly dropping, with passengers looking distressed and others seemingly being treated, lying down in the aisle.
Paramedics met passengers when the flight touched down in Auckland, with an ambulance spokesperson saying about 50 people were treated at the scene for mostly mild injuries.
LATAM Airlines said in a statement that there was “a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement.” In a later statement, the airline said that the plane “experienced a strong shake during flight, the cause of which is currently under investigation.”
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LATAM Airlines said that it “regrets the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards”.
The incident comes after a tricky start to the year for Boeing aircrafts - in January, the company faced questions after an Alaska Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing due to part of the Boeing 737-9 Max jetliner blowing off.