Turbulence Seriously Injures Attendant on United Flight

A long-haul United Airlines flight out of San Francisco ended with a serious crew injury but no passenger harm after a rough patch over the Pacific. United says Flight 115 to Papeete, French Polynesia, ran into what it called "moderate turbulence" on Sunday, badly injuring a flight attendant while leaving the 165 passengers on board unharmed, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Boeing 787-9 landed safely in Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, where paramedics met the aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation and classified the episode as a turbulence encounter; no further details on the attendant's condition have been released. The FAA notes that significant injuries from turbulence are uncommon and disproportionately affect flight attendants, who are often standing or moving through the cabin when bumps hit.