NYC-bound plane made emergency landing after turbulence injured 8

DAILYMAIL.COM • 6h ago

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER 17:13 09 Oct 2026, updated 17:27 09 Oct 2026

A New York City-bound plane was forced into an emergency landing after a terrifying 25,000-foot midair plunge that left at least eight people hospitalized.

Avianca Airlines flight 42 was headed from Medellín, Colombia, to John F Kennedy International Airport when it encountered unexpected turbulence early Friday morning.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320, was soaring at 35,000 feet above the Caribbean about two and a half hours into the flight when it suddenly dropped 25,000 feet, FlightRadar24 tracking data showed.

After the turbulence, NBC 6 obtained cellphone video from inside the plane showing people with ice packs on their heads as they were instructed to keep their seat belts on.

The flight was diverted to Miami International Airport and landed at approximately 3.10am, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

‘Due to the number of patients, the call was upgraded to a Level One Mass Casualty Incident (MCI),’ the fire department said.

‘There was a total of eight patients. One patient was transported by MDFR to the main trauma center. The other seven patients were transported to local-area hospitals by private ambulances.’

Footage showed people being transported to ambulances on stretchers, including one woman wearing a neck brace, outside of the airport.

Avianca Airlines confirmed that three cabin crew members and six passengers were affected by the turbulence.

‘For the remaining passengers, Avianca’s airport team has made the necessary arrangements to continue their travel to New York, providing assistance and support throughout the process,’ the airline said.

‘Avianca remains in contact with the affected passengers and crew members as it continues to respond to the situation.

‘The safety of our customers and employees is, and will remain, the foundation of our operations.’

One passenger told NBC 6 the experience was terrifying, and she just wanted to go home.

‘I don’t want to go out. I only want to go back home,’ the woman said. ‘What I can tell you is you value your life so much when something like that happens.’

Another passenger said she saw ambulances waiting at the Miami Airport when the Avianca flight arrived.

‘When we arrived, when we landed, we saw that very close to where we were going to disembark, there were more than five or six ambulances. Seven of them with their lights on as if they were waiting for something,’ passenger Maria Paula Jimenez told CBS News Miami.

‘When we arrived, well, you know, it wasn’t normal.’

The Federal Aviation Administration told the Daily Mail it will investigate the matter.

Flight tracking data showed Avianca Airlines flight 42 departed from Miami at 8.35am on Friday and landed in New York at 10.50am.

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