30 hurt as turbulence hits Turkish Airlines flight
A Turkish Airlines passenger jet travelling from Istanbul to New York hit severe turbulence as it approached its destination, with 30 people suffering injuries before it landed safely, officials said.
The injured were taken from New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport to local hospitals, mainly for treatment of bumps, cuts and bruises.
One flight atendant suffered a broken leg, according to Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the area’s airports, bus terminals, bridges and tunnels.
The Boeing 777 - which had 326 passengers and 21 crew on board - was over the Atlantic Ocean, about 45 minutes from landing, when it struck the turbulence, Coleman said.
Airport operations were not disrupted as a result of the incident, he added.
Turkish Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier in the day, a plane operated by Canada’s Air Transat made an emergency landing at another New York area airport - in Newark, New Jersey - ater smoke was detected in the cargo hold, the company said.
The Boeing 737-800, which had 189 passengers on board, was travelling from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. No one was injured, a spokeswoman for Air Transat said.
Meanwhile, Germany changed its travel advice for visitors to Turkey, warning its citizens that they risked arrest for expressing opinions that would be tolerated at home but may not be by Turkish authorities.
“It cannot be ruled out ... that the Turkish government will take further action against representatives of German media and civil society organisations,” an updated Foreign Ministry travel advisory read.
“Statements, which are covered by the German legal understanding of the freedom of expression, can lead in Turkey to occupational restrictions and criminal proceedings.”
The advice, which a ministry spokeswoman confirmed was updated on Saturday, noted that several European, including German, journalists had been denied accreditation in Turkey without explanation. In the last two years German nationals have also been increasingly arbitrarily detained, it said.
Turkish authorities are suspicious about any connections to the network of Us-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says orchestrated a 2016 atempted coup, the ministry said.