Boeing 787: At least 50 injured after flight from Sydney to New Zealand 'froze' mid-air causing sudden drop

At least 50 people have been injured and 13 are in hospital after a flight from Sydney to Auckland suffered a "technical" problem mid-air. The aircraft experienced a “strong movement” that reportedly saw passengers suddenly thrown about the plane.

LATAM Airlines said in a statement there was "a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement". It added: "LATAM regrets the inconvenience and injury this situation may have caused its passengers, and reiterates its commitment to safety as a priority within the framework of its operational standards."

Ambulance service Hato Hone St John said it was alerted to an "incident" at 3.58pm local time today (Monday 11 March). Seven ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and two major incident support team vehicles were among those deployed to the scene. Around 50 people were assessed and treated at the scene, with one person in a serious condition and the remainder in a moderate to minor condition.

The New Zealand Herald reported that one passenger said she experienced a "quick little drop" during the flight. She said she saw "at least" five people being taken away by paramedics who were waiting after the plane landed and was pleased to have made it safely to New Zealand. She added: “I used to be a flight attendant and this is the first time I’ve ever… the whole plane just froze.” A passenger on board the flight told CNN affiliate RNZ that there was a “mid-air drop" and "people flew through the cabin".

The LA800 flight, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled on Monday afternoon, according to flight tracker, FlightAware. The flight was due to continue on to Santiago in Chile.

The incident comes as Boeing is under scrutiny over the safety of its aircraft following an incident that occurred on 5 January. A window blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after it took off, prompting the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. 

The aircraft are now back in service, but a former quality manager at Boeing warned that 737 planes are back up in the air too soon. John Barnett told TMZ Live that he is “concerned” about the aircraft being back in service as the door plug blowout incident was due to “jobs not being completed properly”. 

Mr Barnett told TMZ that “they have done due diligence and inspections to ensure that the door plugs on the 737 are installed properly” but “my concern is what about the rest of the aeroplane?”. He added that he has these concerns because “inspection steps have been removed” and issues are “being ignored”.

When asked about the LATAM Airlines incident, a Boeing spokesperson said: “We are working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customer.”