A United Airlines flight to Washington, DC, was forced to make an emergency landing after the Boeing plane abruptly plunged in midair, hurting nearly 40 people onboard, including six hospitalized with serious injuries, according to officials and video of the chaos.
United Airlines Flight 613 turned back to Nigeria on Friday when the aircraft suddenly plunged 93 minutes into the trip to Dulles International Airport, according to Flightradar24 data.
The sudden drop jolted all 245 passengers and 11 crew aboard — tossing food, trays and personal items around the aircraft,
Passengers can be heard yelling amid the chaos after the plane suddenly descended, causing objects to rain all over the cabin packed with passengers, according to the video.
The flight made an emergency pivot back to Lagos, where authorities counted 31 passengers and seven crew members injured, according to a statement from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
At least six — four passengers and two crew members — were seriously hurt and taken to Duchess Hospital in Ikeja, the statement noted.
Local emergency crew were on standby just four minutes after the pilot of the Boeing 787-800 aircraft reported distress at 1:20 a.m., according to the statement.
All six people injured in the melee have since been released from the hospital, a United Airlines spokesperson told CNN.
It is not yet clear what caused the mid-flight chaos, though severe turbulence has been ruled out, according to the report.
