Turbulence onboard a recent Lufthansa flight was so bad that the plane had to make an emergency landing. The severe turbulence caused the plane to drop suddenly, injuring seven people and spooking pretty much everyone on board. Food and people’s personal belongings went flying all over the cabin, as well. However, before passengers were allowed to disembark, they say staff told them to delete all photos and videos of what happened.
Rolanda Schmidt was one of the passengers who was injured on the flight from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany on March 1. She first hit her head on a plastic tray table case on the seat in front of her when the aircraft dropped. When it began to ascend again quickly, she says she flew out of her seat and hit her head again, this time on the ceiling of the plane, according to Insider.
Schmidt told the publication that she literally believed she was going to die. She said she prayed and texted her husband to say goodbye.
Holy shit. pic.twitter.com/OY5vuUmtTV
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) March 6, 2023
“It felt like it hit the eye of a tornado. It would not stop. I thought we were going down,” she recalled. “It was one of those moments where within five-to-ten minutes of processing, you knew you were going to die and we didn’t know if we were going to make it safely anywhere. It felt like the insides of your body were being shaken out.”
She ended up with a concussion, a bruised arm, and maybe even a fractured hip. That all sounds pretty serious, so why did Lufthansa put out a statement saying a few passengers had sustained only “minor injuries”?
The flight did eventually make an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport. However, a flight attendant then came over the loudspeaker and instructed everyone to “delete all your pictures and videos.” The staff member then said the same thing again five minutes later, but claimed it was down to protecting other passengers’ privacy.
Schmidt said that’s not how the announcement initially came across. She also pointed out that no ne was trying to take pictures of other passengers. Any photos that were taken were of the aftermath of the turbulence in the cabin.
She added that while she wanted to turn back and go home, she decided to continue on to Greece, where her daughter plays as a professional volleyball player.
☟ Lufthansa flight diverted to Virginia after turbulence; 7 hospitalized #BreakingNews #WashingtonTimes #RTG ➽➽➽ https://t.co/wmvjZGVlYe pic.twitter.com/fAsZsiktcF
— Mark Horns (@GoodvibrasCom) March 3, 2023
