Horror in air: EasyJet plane rapidly plummets 200m, crew members sustain serious injuries

Passengers aboard an EasyJet plane were left mortified after the aircraft plummeted 200 metres, leaving two cabin crew injuredwhilethey were preparing to serve food.

According to reports, the flightcarrying 181 passengers left Corfu, an island in Greece around 12:44 pm local time on Monday (Aug 19), and was bound for London Gatwick. Shortly after the takeoff, the plane encountered severe turbulence when it was cruising atspeed in excess of 484 miles per hour.

The cabin crew members were jerked around violently and slammed into the aircraft's walls. They sustained injuries serious enough for the pilot to divert the flight and land at Rome's Fiumicino Airport so that they could be treated.

"Fabulous holiday ended with a nightmare journey back from Corfu with terrible turbulence in which we plummeted 200m and two cabin crew were injured with broken leg resulting in emergency diversion to Rome for them to be taken to hospital and a 6-hour wait to be rescued by EasyJet," passenger Becky Walters said in a Facebook post.

"They sent out the big guns and shepherded us home with constant updates from captain who spoke to us all in the cabin before flying and kept us constantly updated during return also turbulent flight. A great PR rescue but they handled it really well in the end."

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Airline's statement

After the incident, EasyJet released a statement and said the safety of passengers remained their utmost priority.

"The flight on August 19 experienced turbulence which unfortunately injured two cabin crew members. As a result, the captain decided to divert the flight to Rome, where the flight attendants received medical assistance," said the airline.

"The safety and well-being of our customers and crew are easyJet's top priority, and our pilots are trained to manage turbulence," it added.

In May, earlier this year, at least one passenger died while several others were injured after a Boeing 777 plane, operated by Singapore Airlines experienced severe turbulence at around 37,000ft and plunged rapidly.

There were 211 passengers onboard, in addition to the 18 crew members.

(With inputs from agencies)