Etihad team visits passengers hurt after Jakarta-bound flight encounters turbulence

A specialist team from Etihad Airways has visited the nine passengers taken to hospital after flight EY474 Abu Dhabi to Jakarta encountered severe and unexpected turbulence.

In this image made from video, injured passengers receive medical treatment at the health facility at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng. AP Photo

DUBAI // Etihad Airways will cover the medical expenses of the passengers injured when flight EY474 Abu Dhabi to Jakarta encountered severe and unexpected turbulence.

A team from the airline visited the nine passengers taken to hospital after the flight touched down at Soekarno Hatta International Airport on Wednesday. Most of the passengers were expected to have been discharged by Thursday. The team confirmed the airline would cover medical expenses.

“Our pilots and cabin crew are to be commended for the calm and professional manner in which they dealt with this exceptional event and the care they showed passengers despite several being injured themselves,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and chief executive.

“It is testament to the high standard of our crew training that the effects of the turbulence were minimised. At no time was the safety of the aircraft, passengers or crew compromised.”

Etihad is co-operating fully with the Indonesian authorities in their investigation.

Passengers on board the Airbus A330-200 have described the moment the aircraft hit turbulence 45 minutes before it was due to land.

Ari, an Indonesian boy who was travelling with his father, said it was a traumatic flight.

“My dad was badly injured in the head,” he said on Twitter.

“Everyone started to cry. It was the most scariest turbulence experience I’ve ever had.”

The airline cancelled Wednesday’s return flight EY475 from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi. Those scheduled to travel were rebooked on alternate flights or provided hotel accommodation, an Etihad spokesman said.