Seven passengers on board a Lufthansa flight that encountered “severe turbulence” over Tennessee were sent to hospitals in the Washington, D.C., area after the plane was diverted to Dulles International Airport.
The husband of a woman on the flight said on Twitter that lightning struck the plane and that it fell 1,000 feet.
The Federal Aviation Administration told FOX Business it will now launch an investigation into what happened on board the Airbus A330 that was flying from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday night.
“Lufthansa Flight 469 diverted to Dulles International Airport and landed without incident around 9:10 p.m. local time after the crew reported encountering severe turbulence at 37,000 feet altitude over Tennessee,” the FAA said in a statement.
FAA INVESTIGATING ‘CLOSE CALL’ BETWEEN JETBLUE FLIGHT, LEARJET AT BOSTON AIRPORT
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said after the plane landed at Dulles, “Authority personnel responded to the flight and transported seven people to local hospitals.”
WASHINGTON, DC-BOUND FLIGHT FORCED TO DIVERT AFTER PASSENGER REPORTEDLY TRIED TO BREACH COCKPIT
A photo shared on Twitter by the man who said his wife was on the flight appeared to show tray and other debris scattered throughout the cabin.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
“People who didn’t have the seat belts fastened got hurt mostly because it came as [a] surprise,” the user wrote, adding that lightning hit the plane and it fell 1,000 feet.
Lufthansa did not immediately respond to a request from FOX Business for comment.
Fox News’ Melissa Summers contributed to this report.
