Eight people were hospitalised and two others injured after a Cathay Airlines flight out of Australia suddenly plunged into severe turbulence sending passengers, food and mobile phones flying.
While breakfast was being served, two hours before it was due to land, Flight CX156 experienced the bout of turbulence, sparking chaotic scenes on board.
Cathay Airlines confirmed that 10 people were injured in the incident – six cabin crew members and four passengers.
Of the injured, eight required admission to hospital once the plane safely landed in Hong Kong, at about 6.45am, local time.
“I thought the plane was going down. There were phones flying, coffees smashed into the roof, food absolutely everywhere,” passenger Nicholas Stevenson, a businessman from Cairns, told the ABC. “People were screaming. There was a lot of people really freaking out.
“The pilot said they believed it was some sort of thunder or lightning cell,” he said. “He said they didn’t really see it on the radar until the last minute because it was dark.
“When we landed, they told everyone to stay seated because the injured people had to get off first.
“I just remember thinking there is not much else you can do in that situation.
“I just sat there with my belt on hoping for the best.”
Director of Carter Capner Law, Peter Carter, compared it to the May 2024 Singapore Airlines turbulence accident which resulted in one death and injured more than 70.
“Cathay said its aircraft encountered a weather system that appeared with ‘little warning’, much like the initial explanation by Singapore Airlines, which claimed its accident was caused by unforeseeable ‘clear air turbulence’,” Carter said.
“However, aircrews in both events would surely have received forecasts indicating the likelihood of thunderstorms on their planned route and ought to have been hypervigilant while transiting places of known convective activity.”
Carter said Cathay’s explanation may prove to be as misplaced as that of Singapore Airlines, whose initial description of “clear air turbulence” was debunked only last week after the investigation found the accident was caused by flying too close to thunderstorms.
“Pilots are trained to stay well distant from storms because aircraft can be severely affected several thousands of feet above a thunderstorm cell and up to 20 miles laterally,” he said.
“A further investigation will be needed for the Cathay flight to determine exactly what happened – what weather was forecast; how close were the storms; how quickly did the aircrew react?”
He said passengers are entitled to compensation depending on the extent of their injury.
“Even if the airline is not at fault, the Montréal 1999 Convention enables passengers to claim up to A$260,000 for proven losses like medical expenses, loss of amenities of life and income loss for proven bodily injury.
“The airline must also pay a higher amount unless it proves the accident was not due to its negligence or that of its pilots or engineers, so in that respect there is no longer a limit on compensation.
“All passengers on the Cathay Pacific flight irrespective of where they live, are able to claim.”
