Thirteen passengers on a Transavia flight from Lyon, France, to Tel Aviv Wednesday evening were lightly injured when the plane hit several air pockets.
The flight landed as scheduled at Ben-Gurion International Airport, and Magen David Adom paramedics were scrambled to the scene to treat the passengers who were hurt.
One of them was Ilanit Elbaz, who told Israel Hayom: "The plane just dropped 700 meters [2,300 feet] all at once. They told everyone before that to put on their seatbelts, but not everyone managed to. We were thrown up, to the plane's ceiling. Passengers and crew were injured and bleeding.
"There was panic and people were screaming. I thought the plane was going to crash, I thought it was the end. I took a blow to the back and after we landed, they took me to the hospital. I'm still in shock," Elbaz said.
Miriam Ovadia was also on the flight, along with her five-year-old daughter. Both sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. Ovadia told Israel Hayom that "the plane just dropped, and we were thrown out of our seats. We were panicked, and I was really scared for my daughter. We're bruised all over."
Itai, another passenger, said, "the turbulence began in the middle of the flight. A few seconds before, they told us to fasten our seatbelts. Not everyone had time to. The plane started plummeting and people were being thrown around. Anyone who didn't have their seatbelt on hit the ceiling.
"People had head injuries and I saw five who were lightly wounded and cut. People were stressed, shouting and starting to pray. It was a few seconds, not more. The flight crew started to treat the injured. There was a doctor who came by to check if everything was all right," Itai said.
Passenger David said he had his seatbelt on, because he wanted to sleep.
"There was shouting and people were reciting 'Shema Yisrael.' It was scary, and people thought they were going to die," David said.
