A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin encountered severe turbulence over Turkey on Sunday, resulting in injuries to twelve individuals.
Six passengers and six crew members were injured when Flight QR017, a Boeing B787-9, encountered intense turbulence over Turkey. Just before 1:00 pm local time, the aircraft landed safely in Dublin, where emergency personnel from the fire and rescue department and airport police were waiting to help.
Every passenger had their injuries treated upon landing before getting off the aircraft. Dublin Airport reported that eight people needed to be hospitalized. According to a Dublin Airport spokesman, “all passengers were assessed for injury prior to disembarking the aircraft,” underlining the quick reaction from emergency personnel.
Dublin Airport stated that operations were unaffected in spite of the incident. The return flight to Doha, QR018, was scheduled to proceed, albeit with a delay. In a statement, Qatar Airways confirmed the safe landing and mentioned, “A small number of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries in flight and are now receiving medical attention,” adding that the incident is under internal investigation.
Passengers recounted the chaotic scenes during the turbulence. Passenger Cathal, who was travelling back to Ireland from Doha, told Irish network RTÉ, “My dinner fell off my lap and the seatbelt signs were off during the incident.” Just food all over the plane, on the ceiling, everywhere.” This account paints a vivid picture of the unexpected and intense turbulence.
Another passenger, Paul Mocc, emphasized the suddenness of the turbulence and its impact on the crew. “I had my seatbelt on at the time, but they were serving food, so a lot of the crew were injured,” Mocc recalled. He described seeing crew members with bandages and continuing to serve passengers despite their injuries. “I saw one passenger on oxygen with suspected back injuries who had been placed lying down across a number of seats,” he added.
Emma Rose Power and Conor Buckley, returning to Dublin from Thailand, shared their experiences. Buckley described the plane dropping suddenly and seeing a flight attendant go “up in the air” while Power, who was asleep, woke up to a “look of panic on everyone’s faces.” She noted that flight attendants had scratches on their faces, and one had an arm in a sling after the turbulence subsided.
This event on Qatar Airways occurred not long after another turbulence-related incident involving a Singapore Airlines flight, in which one man tragically lost his life, and 104 people were hurt. Such instances raise questions about the increasing frequency and intensity of turbulence.
Paul Williams, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Reading, has made a strong case for how climate change affects turbulence. In 2022, Williams told CNN, “We ran some computer simulations and found that severe turbulence could double or triple in the coming decades.”
