DUBAI: Thirty-one passengers and a crew member aboard an Etihad Airways flight were injured on Wednesday when their plane ran into sudden turbulence as it prepared to land in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The United Arab Emirates’ national airline said flight EY474, which departed from its hub in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, was hit by “severe and unexpected turbulence” about 45 minutes before landing at Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

The Airbus A330-200 landed safely but nine passengers and a crew member were taken to a local hospital for their injuries, Etihad said. Paramedics treated the other 22 at the airport’s clinic for minor injuries and they were released, the airline said.

Haerul Anwar, a spokesman for the Jakarta airport, described nine of the injuries as serious. He said officials from the airport and Indonesia’s National Trans­por­­tation Safety Committee were inspecting the plane.

The airline did not provide details on the severity of the injuries, but said the turbulence was severe enough that it damaged cabin storage bins.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016