Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
More than a dozen people were injured, including three crew members, after an inbound flight to Hawaii encountered “severe turbulence” on Sunday, authorities said.
The rough air currents hit Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35 from Phoenix, Arizona about half an hour outside Honolulu, with the plane landing safely around 10:50 a.m., having declared an emergency and been given priority descent.
“Sometimes, these air pockets occur with no warning. It’s rare to have that level of extreme turbulence. It was a very extreme case of mid-air turbulence,” Jon Snook, Hawaiian Air executive vice president and chief operating officer, said at a news conference.