A passenger aboard a rocky Southwest Airlines flight to North Carolina Friday passed out due to the turbulence — while others were left vomiting as the plane shook “like crazy.”
The mayhem erupted when Flight 3094 from Maryland hit wild weather as it approached Raleigh-Durham International Airport Friday night.
It was quite a horrifying experience. We go to land in Raleigh and the plane starts shaking like crazy,” Nicholas Reed, who was traveling with his girlfriend Krys Spence, told WNCN.
The wings were flapping. They were shaking,” he said.
The rough landing was eventually aborted at the last second at 1,350 feet, the outlet reported, citing flight data — but not before frightened passengers were left sick. Passengers Krys Spence (left) and Nicholas Reed (right) described the Southwest flight as a “horrifying experience.”WNCN Two passengers vomited and a third passed out after a panic attack during the incident, the couple said.Courtesy of Krys Spence
Two people were vomiting pretty close to us,” Reed recounted.
Another passenger even had a panic attack and passed out during the shaky approach, the couple said. see also Southwest flight fills with smoke, forced to make emergency landing
The Southwest flight was then diverted to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where matters only took a turn for the worse.
Passengers were held on the aircraft for two hours and then spent almost four hours inside the empty airport, the couple said.
We couldnt go anywhere because they wouldnt give us our luggage, Reed told WNCN.
One group of guys found a bar and went behind it and just started pouring themselves drinks because there was no security.
Another plane finally arrived after 1 a.m. Saturday morning — with passengers finally arriving in Raleigh at 4 a.m.
They didnt offer us meal vouchers or anything. I was like, we fly Southwest all the time, Reed raged.
Southwest Airlines said the turbulent landing was due to “weather conditions at RDU.”
We made the decision to safely divert Southwest flight 3094 (BWI RDU) to MYR due to weather conditions at RDU,” the airline said in a statement.
“We brought in another crew and aircraft to transport the passengers to their final destination as soon as we were able to safely do so,” it added.