Horrifying moment turbulence injures 30 and forces Air Europa flight to make emergency landing in Brazil

At least 30 passengers were treated for injuries in Brazil after an Air Europa flight was hit by severe turbulence early Monday.

Travelers suffered facial injuries, cervical spine fractures and chest pain following the incident and were forced to wait three hours lying on the aircraft floor before being removed.  

Flight UX045 was heading from Madrid, Spain to Montevideo, Uruguay, with 325 passengers when the captain requested to make an emergency landing at 2:32 am at Governador Aluízio Alves International Airport in Natal.

More than 10 passengers were rushed to the nearby Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgerl Hospital, according to Zurich Airport Brazil, which operates Natal Airport.

Cell phone footage showed sections of the airplane's ceiling panels torn off, oxygen mask dangling above passenger seats and at least one seat that was completely damaged.

Air Europa posted a statement on X on Monday morning indicating that a new aircraft was dispatched from Madrid and that the passengers would be bussed from Natal to Recife before being flown to Montevideo.

'We inform that our clients are moving to Recife, where they will stay and then travel to Montevideo. Natal was the airport that could serve passengers with medical needs the fastest,' the airline said. 'As it is not an AirEuropa destination, company personnel also travel to Natal and Recife to provide better service to our customers. 

'All people who have required health care are being treated in centers in Natal. Passengers will be notified with updated information about this operation. We will update with more information.' 

A Venezuelan passenger Norys, who lives in Uruguay, told Uruguayan newspaper El Observador that the captain advised the passengers and crew to fasten their seatbelts because the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was about to encounter turbulence.

'A long time after that, there was a very, very slight turbulence, it was barely felt, and from one moment to the next the plane abruptly falls and we all rise,' Norys said. 

'Those who did not have a seatbelt flew and some remained hooked to the ceiling. It lasted like 3.5 seconds.'

She recalled that the injured passengers waited three hours lying on the aircraft floor before they were removed.

Juan, an Argentine lawyer who was returning to his home in Uruguay following a 40-day trip for leisure and business, said the captain told him that the aircraft 1,640 feet.

The feeling was terror, feeling like you are falling and that it doesn't end. And you are aware that you are falling at an incalculable speed,' Juan said. '

'And you felt that it ended there, that you died,' he added. '(That was) until we began to see on the screen that the plane began to rise.'

It was the second Air Europa incident in less than 24 hours after a flight from Madrid to Tel Aviv was diverted to Rome.

The captain declared an emergency after flight UX1301 entered Italian airspace while the Boeing 787-9 plane was descending from 37,000 feet, according to AirNav RadarBox, a real-time flight tracking system.

DailyMail.com reached out to Air Europa for comment.