OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:55 PM – Thursday, July 31, 2025
Severe turbulence on a Delta Airlines flight has left 25 people hospitalized and forced the plane to make an emergency landing.
On Wednesday, a Delta Airbus A330-900 carrying 275 customers and 13 crew members from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, was suddenly hit with intense turbulence around 7:45 p.m. local time. This caused the plane to relocate to Minneapolis, Minnesota, making an emergency landing at St. Paul International Airport. Passengers were met by paramedics and the MSP Airport Fire Department.
Delta said that 25 passengers from the plane were taken to local hospitals for evaluation following the flight’s abrupt landing.
Early data states that about 45 minutes into the flight, the plane encountered fluctuations in altitude consistent with turbulence as it flew over Wyoming.
Leslie Woods was among those in the cabin when the incident interrupted her trip to visit her friends. She told CBS News that the drink cart was thrown into the air, and the turbulence lasted for about a minute.
“There was a little girl across the aisle from me that was just terrified. She’s screaming ‘we’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to die’ so I was trying to keep her calm, and I really thought we were going to die. It was that scary,” Woods recalled. “The plane was shaking so hard and it would stop and it would start again, so it was kind of traumatizing.”
Woods said she feels lucky to be alive.
Joseph Carbone, also on the flight, described three bouts of turbulence back-to-back, “each more severe than the last,” according to CBS.
“We’ve flown quite a bit. And, uh, this is nothing like we’ve ever felt before. This was insane. People were flying around, uh, everything that wasn’t nailed down was up in the air,” Carbone said.
Leann Nash recounted her experience from the flight to ABC News:
“There was actually no warning. It was a very abrupt, hard hit,” Nash explained. “If you didn’t have your seat belt on—everyone that didn’t—they hit the ceiling, and then they fell to the ground, and the carts also hit the ceiling and fell to the ground, and people were injured, and it happened several times, so it was really scary.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is still investigating the event. Delta said that it is also undergoing a National Transportation Safety Board investigation.
“We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved,” a Delta spokesperson stated. “Our Delta Care Team is working directly with customers to support their immediate needs.”
Delta reported on Thursday that all crew members and staff have since been released from the hospitals where they received treatment. The airline is attempting to compensate for the passengers’ trouble by offering a special flight on Thursday evening from St. Paul International Airport to Amsterdam so travelers can continue their trip.
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