Fifty injured after pilot ‘lost instrumentation’ on LATAM flight from Sydney to Auckland

The pilot of a flight that plunged suddenly en route from Sydney to Auckland on Monday told passengers he “lost instrumentation”.

The pilot of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that plunged suddenly en route from Sydney to Auckland on Monday, injuring 50 people, reportedly told passengers after the terrifying incident that his “gauges just blanked out” and he “lost all ability to fly the plane”.

Twelve passengers were hospitalised and dozens injured after a “major incident” on board LATAM flight LA800 caused the plane to dip violently, with ambulances rushing to Auckland Aiport just before 4pm local time.

The Chilean airline said an unspecified “technical problem” caused “strong movement” in the air. Unrestrained passengers were sent flying through the cabin and into the ceiling, with some left covered in blood.

Fifty people were injured on board LATAM flight LA800. Picture: Brian Jokat

Video from on board showed distressed passengers aiding one another in the aftermath and some holding their heads.

Fifty people were treated at the scene by St John Ambulance and 12 were transported to hospital, officials said.

Passenger Brian Jokat told public broadcaster RNZ the plane “just dropped” about two-thirds of the way through the flight, the NZ Herald reported.

“There was no pre-turbulence, we were just sailing smoothly the whole way,” he said, describing the incident as taking “split seconds”.

“I had just dozed off and I luckily had my seatbelt on, and all of a sudden the plane just dropped. It wasn’t one of those things where you hit turbulence and you drop a few times … we just dropped.”

Mr Jokat said a passenger two seats away who was not wearing his seatbelt flew up into the ceiling where he was suspended before falling back to the floor and breaking his ribs on the armrest.

“I thought I was dreaming,” he said. “I opened my eyes and he was on the roof of the plane on his back, looking down on me. It was like The Exorcist.”

Many passengers had cuts and bruises. Picture: Brian Jokat

After the plane landed the pilot came to the back, according to Mr Jokat.

“I asked him, ‘What happened?’ and he said to me, ‘I lost my instrumentation briefly and then it just came back all of a sudden,’” he said on RNZ. “I know he felt really bad for everyone.”

In another interview with Stuff.co.nz, Mr Jokat recounted the pilot saying, “My gauges just blanked out, I lost all of my ability to fly the plane.”

Another woman told the NZ Herald on Monday the plane experienced a “quick little drop”. “I used to be a flight attendant and this is the first time I’ve ever … the whole plane just froze,” she said.

Daniel, who was travelling from London, told the NZ Herald he had never experienced anything like that in 15 years of flying. He said passengers were screaming and it was hard to tell if it was red wine or blood splattered through the cabin.

“The plane dipped so dramatically into a nose dive for a couple of seconds and around 30 people hit the ceiling hard,” he said. “None of us knew what had happened until after the flight, I was just trying to keep everyone calm. We never heard any announcement from the captain.”

At least one person was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Twelve people were taken to hospital. Picture: Supplied

Former Airbus captain James Nixon told Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday that “pilots around the world are saying it was his bad day, thank God it wasn’t me”.

“This happens once in your career,” he said.

Mr Nixon said it sounded like a “power interruption, maybe a generator failure and the autopilot was on the same side as the generator, if it was number one autopilot, number one generator”.

“There is a huge clunk, the screens go blank and you look at each other and go, ‘Oh my God, what do we do now?’, but luckily the engines are operating and there is another big clunk and then you switch the autopilot over to the other side and it is all sorted,” he said.

“It starts and finishes in about three seconds, but it feels like a year.”

Mr Nixon said the incident would have been so quick “you haven’t even got time to wet yourself”. He added it highlighted the importance of keeping your seatbelt fastened in-flight.

“That is rule number one,” he said.

A LATAM plane sits at gate at Los Angeles Airport. Picture: Daniel Slim/AFP

“Don’t they listen to those words we say at the end of every PA? Leave your seatbelts securely fastened like we do on the flight deck, because this can happen, it takes about three seconds, and you look at each other and say, ‘Wow, that was fun’, and then the cabin crew ring you up and tell you you have injuries down the back.”

A spokesperson for the airline said “a technical event during the flight” had “caused a strong movement”.

“The plane landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” the airline said.

“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.”

Gerard Campbell of St John Ambulance said medics were first made aware of the problem as the plane descended into New Zealand’s largest city.

A phalanx of more than a dozen ambulances and other medical vehicles rushed to the scene to treat the wounded.

Several baggage compartments and parts of the roof were damaged. Picture: Brian Jokat

“Our ambulance crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one patient in a serious condition and the remainder in a moderate to minor condition,” Mr Campbell said.

“Twelve patients were transported to hospital,” he said, after earlier putting the number at 13.

At least three of those treated were cabin crew.

Passengers from Brazil, France, Australia, Chile and New Zealand were taken to hospital.

Data from airline tracker FlightAware showed the plane lost altitude about two hours into the three-hour flight while over the Tasman Sea.

US manufacturer Boeing has suffered a series of safety issues in recent years, including the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019 that killed more than 350 people.

“We are working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customer,” Boeing said in a statement sent to AFP.

Boeing is still reeling from a near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight.

A panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 blew off mid-flight. Picture: X

US regulators earlier this month gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan addressing quality control issues, with the Federal Aviation Administration chief saying the company must “commit to real and profound improvements”.

Last week a Boeing 777 jetliner bound for Japan had to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from San Francisco when a wheel fell off and plunged into an airport parking lot, damaging several cars.

Also last week New Zealand’s Prime Minister was forced to take a commercial flight to Australia for high-level meetings because of a last-minute problem with a New Zealand Defence Force Boeing 757 aircraft.

New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it was “aware of [Monday’s] reported incident” and was “gathering further information to inform a decision as to whether to open an inquiry”.

According to a statement from the Chilean General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), New Zealand will take the lead on investigation of the incident, while the DGAC plans to send its own representative to participate as well.

LATAM said passengers destined for Santiago would now leave New Zealand on Tuesday evening.

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— with AFP