Thirty-eight people were injured on a United Airlines flight heading to Washington, D.C., from Lagos, Nigeria, this week, officials in Nigeria said, after the plane experienced what the airline described as “a technical problem and unexpected aircraft movement.”
Six people were treated at a hospital for their injuries, Nigerian authorities and the airline said.
United described the injuries to the six people as “minor”, although Nigerian authorities described them as “serious”. Nigerian authorities also said 32 others on the flight had minor injuries.
Video and images on social media show the distress and disorder on the plane, with passengers talking over each other as food and meal trays are strewn around the cabin.
United did not offer more details about what it said was a “technical issue” or about the size of the move or possible causes, but said the matter was being investigated.
“We are working with aviation authorities in the US and Nigeria to understand the cause,” the airline said.
The Federal Aviation Administration referred questions to the airline and authorities in Nigeria.
The flight, which left Nigeria for Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday evening, was forced to return to Lagos for an emergency landing early on Friday. The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, had 245 passengers and 11 crew members on board.
The plane flew over Ivory Coast as it returned to Nigeria, according to information from Flightradar24, a site that collects public information on aircraft locations, flight paths and altitude.
Nigeria's Federal Airports Authority said on social media that four passengers and two crew members suffered serious injuries. Another 27 passengers and five crew members had minor injuries, the statement said. The nature of the injuries was not disclosed.
“Those with minor injuries were given first aid and immediately discharged, while those with serious injuries were stabilized and transferred to Duchess Hospital, Ikeja,” which is in Lagos State, the authority said. It said the plane suffered no major damage.
In an email on Saturday, a representative for United Airlines said the four passengers and two flight attendants had been released from the hospital.
The episode happened about 90 minutes after takeoff, according to data from Flightradar24, when the jet abruptly descended.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, noted Saturday that the similarities between the United Flight and an episode in March when a Latam Airlines plane suddenly dived during a flight to Auckland, New -Zeeland, which injured dozens of passengers.
“The public may know for a few weeks to a month, but investigators will know in a few days,” Mr. Guzzetti said of the case. “They're going to download the flight data recorder and they're going to interview the flight crew and also listen to the Cockpit voice recorder.”
Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., said the episode “highlights the fact that passengers should remain in their seat belts as much as possible on airplanes, even when the captain drops off the captain Zutband light . “
