Turbulent Qantas flight under investigation after cabin crew member was badly hurt

A Qantas flight which struck turbulence over Brisbane and left a flight attendant badly injured is being investigated by the national transport safety body.

Qantas is being investigated over a turbulence episode on a flight from Sydney to Brisbane on May 4, in which a flight attendant suffered a broken ankle.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has only just flagged the investigation, almost four weeks after the incident which occurred on a Boeing 737-800 at about 9000ft.

It’s understood the decision to investigate was made after further information was gathered from Qantas.

According to the ATSB investigation brief, seatbelt signs were turned on but crew members were not yet seated when the turbulence struck.

“One of the cabin crew members sustained a serious ankle injury,” the ATSB said.

“The flight crew notified air traffic control and an ambulance crew was waiting for the aircraft on arrival.”

A Qantas spokeswoman said they were co-operating with the ATSB investigation.

“The aircraft experienced a brief, sudden turbulence event while descending into Brisbane,” said the spokeswoman.

“The seatbelt sign was on and all passengers were seated but cabin crew were in the process of taking their seats for landing when the turbulence event occurred.”

The injured flight attendant was treated on board by fellow crew members and an on-board medical professional.

“The aircraft landed normally in Brisbane and paramedics boarded the aircraft to attend to the injured crew member,” the spokeswoman said.

“We appreciate this may have been an unsettling experience for customers and we thank them for their co-operation.”

Witnesses and “involved parties” would be interviewed as part of the ATSB investigation, which was also expected to examine maintenance records and review recorded data.

A report was expected by the end of the year.

The investigation follows mayhem on a recent Singapore Airlines’ flight after severe turbulence over Myanmar.

The investigation follows two episodes of severe turbulence on overseas flights, involving Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways in the last week.

In the Singapore Airlines incident, one man died and scores of others were seriously injured when the Boeing 777-300ER experienced drastic fluctuations in vertical acceleration over Myanmar on May 21.

A preliminary report said the aircraft was approaching an area of developing bad weather at the time, and an updraft caused the sudden upward movement.

Days later, a Qatar Airways flight from Dublin to Doha struck unexpected turbulence over Turkey, causing injuries to 12 passengers and crew.

Eight of those were taken to hospital on arrival.

Despite the spate of turbulence-related events, there was no firm evidence to suggest turbulence episodes were becoming more severe or more frequent.

The ATSB’s own occurrence database showed only three turbulence events involving Australian aircraft had been reported in 2024.