Turbulence On JetBlue Flight Sends 24 People To Hospital

A JetBlue flight from Boston to Sacramento hit a severe bout of turbulence Thursday night that sent 22 passengers and two crew members to the hospital.

The plane had to be diverted and landed in Rapid City, South Dakota, where the injured were taken to a local hospital. All were treated and later released, according to local media reports.

Passengers described a scary scene on board the plane.

"People were floating," Rhonda Lynam of Pebble Beach, California, told ABC News. "All of a sudden, it was as if you're on an elevator, 50 stories high, and it goes out of control. Then you hit the bottom."

Lynam said passengers were being thrown around the cabin.

"People were being tossed around like rag dolls," she said. "Everybody was crying and screaming. The plane was like a disaster."

Derek Lindahl told CNN that he saw a woman who wasn't wearing a seat belt rise two feet out of her seat.

"I literally grabbed her out of the air to hold her to the seat," he told CNN.

"People were flying out of their seat belts and hitting their head on the ceiling," Rhonda Renee told CNN. "It was very scary."

Once the plane landed, local authorities set up a triage in the airport, and the injured passengers were taken to a local hospital.

Passengers praised the response from Rapid City fire and police officers along with JetBlue personnel.

Main image via Adam Moreira, used under Creative Commons