Severe Turbulence Forces SAS Flight From Stockholm To Miami To Make U-Turn After Crossing Atlantic

A Scandinavian Airlines transatlantic flight had to be diverted to Copenhagen after encountering severe turbulence. While airplanes routinely face turbulence midair, the situation with the SAS flight was clearly significant enough for the pilots to turn the plane back. So far, there have been no reports of anyone getting injured during the flight.

SAS A330 turns back

On November 14, an SAS flight between Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) and Miami International Airport (MIA) had to turn back after facing severe turbulence. The aircraft, an Airbus A330-300, had completed a significant chunk of its flight. It had crossed Greenland and was approaching the North American coast when it was seen turning around.

Images circulating on social media show the extent of the turbulence, with the cabin floor littered with several items that were thrown around during the incident. Some passengers recalled “intense shaking” during the turbulence. The aircraft was at 36,000 feet when it turned around, as per Flightradar24.

The decision to turn around and divert to Copenhagen was later explained by the airline. A spokesperson for SAS told Aviation A2Z,

“When severe turbulence occurs, the aircraft must always be carefully inspected. It is standard in the industry. We cannot do that study in the USA, it must be done at home, and in this case Copenhagen.”

According to The Mirror, the airline’s personnel met with the passengers upon landing. The travelers were accommodated in a hotel in Copenhagen and arrangements were made to fly them to Miami the next day.

Aircraft and flight detail

The aircraft involved in the incident is a 9.1-year-old Airbus A330-300 registered as LN-RKS. It was delivered to Scandinavian Airlines in September 2015 and has accumulated more than 38,000 flight hours across 4,385 flight cycles as of August 31, 2024, per ch-aviation.

SAS relies heavily on Airbus widebody planes for long-haul flights. It has eight A330-300s and four A350-900 aircraft in its fleet. The aircraft involved in the latest incident recently flew to Miami, Newark, and San Francisco in the last few days.

Flight SK957 is a scheduled service between Stockholm and Miami, with a scheduled departure of 12:55 and an arrival of 17:45. On average, it takes a little over 10 hours to reach its destination.

Other incidents

There have been several reports of aircraft facing turbulence severe enough to cause onboard injuries and diversion. A few days ago, a Lufthansa flight between Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA) faced severe turbulence, resulting in 11 injuries.

The six crew members and five passengers, who sustained minor injuries, received medical assistance after the plane landed in Frankfurt. The aircraft involved in the incident was a Boeing 747-8.

In August, a United Airlines Boeing 737 traveling from Cancun, Mexico, to Chicago O’Hare, had to divert to Memphis after it encountered severe turbulence. There were reports of six people receiving minor injuries and one additional person who had to be taken to hospital upon landing.

But the most high-profile case this year was that of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 between London and Singapore in May. The Boeing 777 hit a patch of turbulence so bad that it severely injured several passengers and crew members onboard and claimed the life of one passenger.