Severe turbulence injures 14 on Korean Air flight to Mongolia

Fourteen people were injured on a Korean Air flight headed to Ulaanbaatar after hitting severe turbulence that scattered meal trays around the cabin.

X user @pinkteest uploaded a photo of Korean Air's Ulaanbaatar-bound flight KE197, which met severe turbulence as it was flying near Tianjin Airport in China on Sunday. Meals were thrown around and 14 people were injured. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Fourteen people were injured on a Korean Air flight going to Mongolia’s capital city on Sunday after meeting turbulence so severe that the plane shook and meals flew around.

A total of 281 passengers were on the Ulaanbaatar-bound KE197 flight, Korean Air said Monday. The plane experienced acute turbulence an hour after leaving Incheon Airport as it flew near China's Tianjin Airport at an altitude of 34,100 feet. The plane violently shook up and down for around 15 seconds and trays with meals the passengers had been eating flew around.

A user on X, formerly Twitter, recounted the experience in a post on Sunday.

“The turbulence started around the time people were finished eating. The airplane sharply plunged so people were screaming and the meals were all knocked over, it was chaotic," the user said.

"People who weren't wearing seat belts shot up into the air," travel blogger Kim Hae-in wrote on her blog.

"One passenger bounced really high, hit their head on the ceiling and dropped into the aisle," she added.

X user @pinkteest's photo of Korean Air flight KE197 bound for Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar on Sunday. The meals that dropped on the floor and splattered the ceiling could not be cleaned up during the flight, according to Korean Air. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Ten passengers and four flight attendants reported back and neck pain, but none were seriously injured, Korean Air said.

The airline explained that the plane was flown around an area near Tianjin Airport experiencing lightning and thunder. The in-flight meal service was halted and passengers were advised to remain in their seats and fasten their seat belts.

Korean Air supplied passengers with anti-inflammatory painkillers on the flight, and a medical team waiting at Ulaanbaatar treated the patients right after the plane touched down. All passengers went through immigration without any problems.

Turbulence has worsened in recent years — especially clear air turbulence, which is hard to detect beforehand and is one of the leading causes of weather-related aviation accidents — notably due to climate change. Clear air turbulence increased by 55 percent from 1979 to 2020, according to a 2023 study conducted by the University of Reading.

Korean Air did not specify which turbulence the Mongolia-bound flight went through.

The airline began ending in-flight services 40 minutes before landing from early July and stopped serving ramyeon to passengers in economy class from August, citing safety concerns over turbulence.

"We advise passengers to minimize moving around the plane while it is in the air and to always fasten their seat belts when seated," Korean Air said in its statement.

Update, Aug. 5: Added more quotes from passengers.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]