Chaos aboard an Air India flight from Phuket, Thailand, to Delhi after severe turbulence injured 17 people, including passengers and crew. The incident occurred on August 4. In a statement posted on its X page, the airline said flight AI2379 “experienced a sudden loss of altitude during the journey. After the event, the aircraft continued its flight normally and landed safely in Delhi” at 11:07 local time.

Flight tracking site FlightAware confirmed the aircraft departed Phuket International Airport on time at 08:27 local time and landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi 43 minutes early, at 11:07 on Tuesday. Investigations are underway to determine exactly what happened.

According to the Times of India, a crew member suffered serious injuries. The newspaper quoted an official from the local Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) saying the aircraft lost about 90 metres of altitude during the incident. Numerous videos circulated online after the event.

A passenger on X described the Phuket-to-Delhi flight on August 4, 2026, as “the worst two hours of my life,” urging people to always wear their seatbelt even when the sign is off. They reported seeing people thrown into the air, hitting their heads, and being injured. For a while, I genuinely… pic.twitter.com/3bVjcZZ18g

— Minchen (@minchen_t) August 4, 2026

A passenger told People, “My father was seated in an aisle seat and was having a coffee. Suddenly there was a strong jolt, he was thrown, hit his head on the ceiling and fell to the floor,” adding that his mother struck the overhead bin and his wife and two-year-old daughter were thrown into the aisle.

An Italian passenger, Viviana, told the Times of India: “I saw my sister being thrown and my mother was hit in the head. My phone flew away… People seated behind me were seriously injured. One man had his face covered in blood. It was horrible; I thought I was going to die.”