Seven were hospitalized after a Lufthansa Airlines flight from Austin to Frankfurt made an emergency landing in Washington DC after being struck by lightning. Lufthansa Flight No. 469 from Austin, Texas, to Frankfurt, Germany, was diverted and landed at Dulles at 9:10 p.m. EST after the plane experienced “severe turbulence” while over Tennessee, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Terrified passengers were surrounded by a ‘lot of broken glass’ and left screaming in terror after Lufthansa Flight 469 hit a traumatic wave of turbulence at 37,000 feet on Wednesday while flying over Tennessee.
The flight landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport around 9pm, just three hours into the 10.5-hour flight to Germany. Seven passengers were taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. A passenger, who spoke anonymously with the Washington Post, said food ‘went flying into the air, hitting and even damaging the ceiling of the plane.’ A dog was on the Lufthansa flight from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany that was forced to make an emergency landing in Washington, D.C., after hitting severe turbulence that injured seven people. It took hours for the dog’s owner to learn that the pup was okay.
Lufthansa Airbus A330-300 (D-AIKK, built 2008) operating #LH469 from Austin to Frankfurt safely diverted to Washington-IAD Intl(KIAD), VA bc of multiple injuries on board due to severe turbulences. The A330 was flying over W Virgina at 37000 ft at the time. Video: Susan Zimmerman pic.twitter.com/D2cfnR56WY
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) March 2, 2023
The passenger sitting in the row in front of them had to be wheeled off the plane in a wheelchair after being ‘badly hurt’ and was heavily bleeding.