12 hospitalised in New Zealand after LATAM flight dips violently: ‘people flew through the air’

Twelve passengers were hospitalised on Monday after a technical problem on a LATAM flight from Sydney to Auckland caused the plane to dip violently, the airline and first responders said.

At least one person was in serious condition after flight LA800 – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner – experienced an unspecified “technical event” over the Tasman Sea.

“People flew through the air because they weren’t wearing their seatbelts,” a passenger told public broadcaster RNZ.

“Some people got pretty injured. People were really scared as well,” the unidentified man said, his voice shaking.

Passenger Brian Jokat told local news website Stuff he had been sleeping when the incident happened, and he woke up to see his seat neighbour on the ceiling of the plane.

“His back is on the ceiling and he’s up in the air, and then he drops down and hits his head on the armrest. The whole plane is screaming,” said Jokat, describing the scene.

“The plane then [starts] taking a nose-dive and I [am] just thinking, ‘OK this is it, we’re done’.”

A spokesperson for the Chile-based airline said “a technical event during the flight” had “caused a strong movement”.

“The plane landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” the airline said, adding it “deeply regrets any inconvenience and discomfort this situation may have caused”.

It was not immediately clear what caused the incident.

Gerard Campbell of the St John New Zealand ambulance service said medics were first made aware of the problem as the plane descended into New Zealand’s largest city.

A phalanx of more than a dozen ambulances and other medical vehicles rushed to the scene to treat the wounded.

“Our ambulance crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one patient in a serious condition and the remainder