An Alaska Airlines passenger who was left terrified of flying after being on a flight that experienced severe turbulence, tossing three flight attendants in the air and leaving them bleeding and screaming in pain, is now suing the Seattle-based carrier for negligence.
Natalie Russell from Washington state was a passenger on Alaska Airlines flight AS-700 from SeaTac to Phoenix on December 26, 2024, which flew through an area of turbulence so rough that the plane “plunged” around 200 feet in just a few seconds.
At around 1:35 pm, as the Boeing 737-9 was flying at cruising altitude over Henderson, Nevada, the aircraft encountered an area of “severe turbulence,” according to a preliminary accident report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The pilots and flight attendants were aware that there could be turbulence in this area, and the passengers had already been directed to sit down and buckle up, with one crew member reportedly telling the passengers that things were about to get much worse.
The severity of what unfolded, however, still caught the flight attendants off guard. Two on-duty crew members and a ‘non-rev’ flight attendant using a jumpseat at the back of the plane were thrown into the air before being tossed down the galley floor.
Sitting close to the back of the plane, Natalie says she could hear the crew members screaming and moaning in pain. She then noticed they were bleeding profusely.
Natalie says that despite the fact that she was wearing her seatbelt, the turbulence was so severe that she still ended up being “slammed” into the ceiling. Her phone was thrown out of her hand, her ear buds popped out of her ears, and her drink spilled as the plane was violently shaken.
She also saw passengers sitting nearby thrown upwards towards the ceiling. They hit the ceiling with such force that a panel fell down.
“There was panic and terror on the subject flight both for passengers and flight attendants,” the complaint, filed in the King County Superior Court earlier this week, reads.
“Multiple people were injured, screaming, and crying. Bleeding flight attendants were laying on the floor. Plaintiff heard a passenger comment something like, ‘This looks like a war zone.'”
But rather than diverting to the nearest available airport, the pilots decided to continue on to Phoenix. The NTSB preliminary report explains that the reason for this was that diverting the plane would have sent them through an area of even more turbulence.
Instead, the pilots radioed ahead to Phoenix to have emergency services meet the aircraft on arrival. Paramedics boarded the plane and attempted to treat one of the injured flight attendants but she was in so much pain that she begged not to be lifted from the floor of the galley.
Although the NTSB report states that none of the passengers were injured, Natalie claims that this isn’t accurate. In fact, she immediately went to Urgent Care for various complaints, including head and neck pain, along with accompanying stiffness.
Natalie’s injuries were, however, just physical. She says she is now suffering from mental anguish, trauma, and stress as a result of what occurred on Flight 700, and she now suffers from travel anxiety.
This anxiety is so bad that she fainted on one flight, and she has trouble sleeping for days before a flight.
All of this, the lawsuit claims, could have been prevented. There were various weather and pilot reports of turbulence in the area that should have been acted upon, Natalie’s attorney says.
By failing to take these reports into account and either rerouting or delaying the flight, Natalie’s attorney argued that Alaska Airlines was negligent and should be forced to pay Natalie punitive damages.
The preliminary accident report notes that the pilots were aware of turbulence in the area and had tried to get the cabin prepared for the possibility of weather in the area they flew through.
The report also notes that the First Officer called into Air Traffic Control shortly before the severe turbulence event, and they were advised that there were no recent reports of severe turbulence in the area.
The investigation is ongoing.
