Keep Your Seat Belt On: What Turbulence Does to a Cabin

What was reported on 9 October 2026

According to news reports, a flight from Colombia to the United States was diverted after severe turbulence and landed at a US airport at about 3:30 a.m. on Friday 9 October 2026. The airline said six passengers and three cabin crew members were affected. Eight people were taken to hospital, one of them to a trauma centre. The reports differ on whether all eight were passengers, and the extent of the injuries was not clear in the reports we read.

A local television station, citing air traffic control records and audio, reported that the turbulence appears to have happened at about 34,000 feet. The FAA told another local station that it would investigate. The flight continued with its remaining passengers at about 8:15 a.m.

None of the reports we read says whether the people who were hurt were wearing seat belts. We do not know, so we do not guess. As of 9 October 2026, the reports we read say only that the FAA will investigate.

What turbulence does to a cabin

The FAA describes turbulence as air movement that normally cannot be seen and often comes unexpectedly, even when the sky looks clear. It is normal and happens often, but it can be dangerous: people who are not wearing a seat belt can be thrown from their seats without warning.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) studied US airline accidents from 2009 to 2018. Of the 295 accidents, 111 (37.6%) were turbulence-related, and most of those involved a serious injury and no damage to the aircraft. Of the 123 passengers and flight attendants who were seriously injured, only one passenger was documented as wearing a seat belt. The NTSB concluded that wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of serious injury for everyone on board, and that being seated with the belt fastened is the most effective way to prevent a turbulence injury.

Crew are hurt most. About four in five of those serious injuries (97 of 123) were to flight attendants, mostly in galleys and aisles, for example while preparing the cabin for landing or serving. FAA figures for US airlines list 166 crew members and 40 passengers among serious turbulence injuries from 2009 to 2024.

The skill: buckled whenever you are seated

The habit is simple. Fasten your seat belt when you sit down and leave it fastened, as the FAA advises. US rules require passengers to be seated with belts fastened when the aircraft leaves the gate and as it climbs, during landing and taxi, and whenever the seat belt sign is lit. The sign sets the legal minimum; the safer habit is to stay buckled for as long as you are seated.

When the sign comes on, go back to your seat, buckle up and stay there. In the NTSB's data, eight of the 17 seriously injured passengers whose place in the cabin is known were in or near a lavatory. Listen to the crew, read the safety card, and follow your airline's carry-on limits; the FAA lists all of these among the ways to prevent turbulence injuries.

Children, and why the crew sit down too

The FAA says the safest place for a child under two is in a government-approved child seat or device. The NTSB notes that US rules allow a child under two to be held on an adult's lap, and it describes cases where caregivers could not hold lap-held infants securely in turbulence. Older children should be buckled like everyone else.

The NTSB also found that having flight attendants seated with their belts fastened for more of the descent would reduce their injuries. So when the crew sit down and buckle up, it is for the same reason you are asked to.