Lufthansa turbulence horror as crew and passengers injured mid-air

Lufthansa passengers were injured after a flight experienced extreme turbulence mid-air. The Boeing 747-8 was heading to Frankfurt in Germany when the ordeal happened.

It took off from Buenos Aires, Argentina, before being hit by a brief period of severe turbulence over the Atlantic. A total of 11 people were said to have been hurt during the flight.

A Lufthansa spokesperson blamed the incident on tropical air currents. According to flight tracking data, the plane - registered D-ABYP - climbed to a cruise altitude of 33,000ft.

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It encountered the turbulence between South America and Africa, Mirror reports. Pilots tried to manoeuvre around the weather, climbing to 35,000ft.

But during the ascent, five passengers were not wearing seatbelts and were injured, according to AirLive.net. A Lufthansa spokeswoman said five passengers and six members of crew were injured.

She said the plane was flying in an inner-tropical convergence zone at the time of the incident. This is the equatorial low-pressure trough through which one has to fly in this area, she said.

The spokeswoman added: "This means there are air currents in this low-pressure trough that can lead to turbulence. The safety of the flight was never at risk."

There were 329 passengers and 19 crew members on board. Several ambulances were waiting on the ground to treat those on board once the plane landed.

Injuries were minor. While turbulence can cause a bumpy plane journey, it can cause damage to the plane and injuries to people on board in more severe cases.

Captain Richard Levy, who retired after four decades of flying, previously said: "To put it simply, turbulence happens when the wind changes in velocity and direction. If it happens suddenly, you may feel the force of it."