A commercial flight bound for New York City made an emergency landing on Friday after hitting severe turbulence.
The Avianca plane, which departed Medellin, Colombia, at 10:40 p.m. local time, quickly descended 25,000 feet and diverted to Miami, Florida.
At least nine passengers and crew were hospitalized.
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Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue say at least eight people were injured in severe turbulence on a flight from Colombia to New York. ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze reports. pic.twitter.com/UBCBBiq3v1
— ABC News (@ABC) October 9, 2026
More from the New York Post:
“Multiple patients” were injured, Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue officials said after the plane touched down around 3:30 a.m — with at least one of the injured serious enough to be rushed to a trauma center.
ADVERTISEMENTThe airline later said that nine people — including three crew members — were taken to a medical facility for treatment.
Uninjured passengers were flown to New York City Friday morning, according to Avianca.
“The safety of our customers and employees is, and will remain, the foundation of our operations,” the airline said in a statement.
It’s unclear how many passengers and crew were on board the flight.
“When we arrived, when we landed, we saw that very close to where we were going to disembark, there were more than five or six ambulances,” passenger Maria Paula Jimenez told CBS Miami.
“Seven of them with their lights on as if they were waiting for something. When we arrived, well, you know, it wasn’t normal,” Jimenez added.
Passengers said their Avianca flight from Medellín, Colombia, was destined for New York before it was forced to make an emergency landing. Video from inside the plane appears to show travelers with ice packs on their heads. https://t.co/Eb0qJiwUmb
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) October 9, 2026
NBC Miami shared further:
Passengers who were on the flight recalled the terrifying ordeal.
“We thought it was the end for us,” said Pilar, a passenger on the flight who did not want disclose her last name. “It was incredibly intense — something I’ve never experienced in my life.”
She said there were at least three very strong bouts of turbulence.
ADVERTISEMENTFlight data from FlightRadar24 shows the Airbus A320 climbed to around 36,000 feet as it flew over Cuba before making a sharp descent — dropping around 25,000 feet in minutes — about 3 hours into the flight.
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