Between 25 and 30 people were injured in the incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay said. However, this number is preliminary. “At first glance, none of the injured were in danger of death, most suffered only minor injuries. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some of the injured were taken to hospital.
As explained by the company that operates the Brazilian city's airport, the plane landed there at 2:42 a.m. local time (4:42 a.m. CEST). According to Air Europa, a second plane will take off from Madrid to take passengers who landed in Natal to Montevideo.
In May, one man was killed and more than a hundred people were injured as a result of severe turbulence on a flight from London to Singapore. At that time, a Boeing plane was also damaged.
According to experts, turbulence – and especially so-called clear air turbulence, which is not detected by airborne radar – is becoming more common due to climate change. According to a 2023 study, the average duration of turbulence increased by 16 percent from 1979 to 2020. The number of serious turbulences increased by more than 50 percent.