FIRST ON NECN: 2 Flight Attendants Injured Due to Turbulence on Boston-Bound Plane

After the flight diverted to Buffalo, a new crew was brought in and the 143 passengers boarded another plane to Boston

Two flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines plane from Chicago to Boston were injured Thursday night when turbulence forced the flight to divert to Buffalo.

A Southwest spokeswoman said Flight 2386 from Chicago Midway International Airport to Boston Logan International Airport safely diverted to Buffalo Niagara International Airport after experiencing turbulence mid-flight. Upon landing, the flight crew was taken to a local hospital to be checked out.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the Boeing B737 aircraft landed safely in Buffalo around 9:30 p.m. Two flight attendants were injured, according to the FAA.

Passengers who were on the flight told necn that the plane dropped so sharply that some people "flew into the air,"some even hitting the ceiling of the aircraft.

"That was the worst like nose dive or drop I've ever experienced," said one passenger.

"I was scared," said another. "Terribly scared."

"We hit dead air and we just plummeted," Brian Sutherland, a passenger from Bellingham, Massachusetts, said. "There were screams from behind me, obviously just from the shock of it."

Sutherland says he grabbed the chair in front of him to keep himself from hitting anything.

But two of the flight attendants, who were out of their seats, weren't so lucky - including one who was pregnant and preparing the beverage service in the back of the Boeing 737.

"The galley in the back looked like a bomb had gone off because there was material everywhere so clearly she was thrown and then whatever debris was there hit her," Sutherland explained.

"All of a sudden, the plane just kind of dropped for five seconds and everyone who wasn't wearing a seat belt flew," said Brookline college student Maya Shaked.

According to Shaked, another flight attendant hit her head and was bleeding.

"She had an ice pack on her head, she was crying," she said. "I think she was concussed, she was surrounded by doctors."

Southwest was able to get a new flight crew and got passengers home around 2 a.m.

Some of the passengers had nothing but praise for the pilot.

"If you're dropping thousands of feet, that's not an easy thing to manage, so I'm grateful to him," said Sutherland.

Southwest Airlines said all 143 passengers on board were accommodated on another flight. The FAA is investigating what happened.

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