According to The New Zealand Herald, a 47-year-old man had to remain within the air for six and a half hours with a broken leg consequently of severe turbulence in the course of the flight.
Niko, a German who has lived in Bali for 13 years, flew with Air New Zealand from Indonesia to Auckland on Tuesday. The newspaper reported that he and his partner Sasha were occurring holiday for about three weeks.
On board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Niko visited the lavatory half-hour into the flight, but in keeping with the Herald, on the way in which back to his seat, the jet encountered turbulence and broke his leg.
A friend who picked Niko up from Auckland airport told the Herald: “His leg practically broke in half.” He added that Niko suffered a broken tibia and fibula.
The Herald reported that there was a physician on board the plane, but only paracetamol was available to ease Niko’s pain. This meant he suffered for the remaining of the seven-hour flight.
“The crew asked some passengers to get up from their seats so he could lie down for the rest of the time,” the friend added.
Flight attendant needed surgery after ‘indecent’ turbulence hit Singapore-UK flight
Flight attendant needed surgery after ‘indecent’ turbulence hit Singapore-UK flight
The local ambulance service confirmed to The Herald that they attended the incident on the airport at around 5.40am.
Air New Zealand also confirmed the incident to the newspaper. The airline didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider outside local business hours.
The airline’s chief operational integrity and safety officer told The Herald that the flight would only be rerouted if it was operationally feasible and the team had “sufficient concern” for the welfare of the injured party.
Both incidents remind airline passengers to wear seat belts every time possible – even when the cabin sign is turned off. But sometimes, as in Niko’s case, bad luck is unavoidable.
