Passengers took to social media to share their experiences about the incident.
“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,” one person reportedly on the flight posted on X.
Photos shared by passengers online showed meal trays, food, and cutlery scattered on the aisle.
The airline told Korea JoongAng Daily that they provided painkillers onboard and a medical team was ready to inspect passengers upon arrival at Ulaanbaatar.
This comes less than 50 days since Korean Air experienced a flight incident that left 17 passengers injured.
On 22 June, a major system failure resulted in a flight KE189 suddenly dropping 8168m (26,900ft) in just 15 minutes.
The flight departed from the Seoul Incheon International Airport and headed to Taichung, Taiwan when 50 minutes later after takeoff a pressurised system fault drove the aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, to plummet, the Independent reported.
According to data from the online flight tracker Flightradar24, the aircraft descended from a calibrated altitude of 10,767m to 2567m in a quarter of an hour.
The aircraft carrying 125 passengers could then be seen circling several times before diverting back to Seoul. It was just after 7.30pm local time when the flight landed back in the South Korean capital.
Seventeen passengers were hospitalised as a result of the terrifying ordeal - though no major injuries were reported.
