A transcript of the conversation between air traffic control and a Latam Airlines flight LA800 has revealed the moments after the plane plunged hundreds of metres, injuring dozens of passengers last month.
The March 11 flight between Sydney and Auckland with 272 passengers onboarddropped abruptly – flinging passengers from their seats – before stabilising moments later.
A preliminary report from Civil Aviation in Chile said the Dreamliner 787 plunged after “the seat on the left side of the cockpit, with the captain in position, began an involuntary movement forward”.
The transcript, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, recorded the moment the pilots notified Auckland Airport of the incident and were told they may have to wait with their injured crew while police dealt with another incident on the ground that had forced it to stop accepting flights.
LA800 first contacted Auckland Control at 3.39pm on March 11.
“We [had] an issue with the aircraft and now it’s solved,” a pilot told Auckland Control.
“Some passengers now are injured and we request medical assistance on our arrival in New Zealand ... we have three crew members and around 10 passengers with injuries.”
The controller warned the pilots their landing could be delayed by a police incident.
A Latam Airlines Boeing 787 at Auckland Airport similar to the one involved in the March 11 incident. Photo / Brett Phibbs
“Just advising that at this stage Auckland Airport is not accepting any arrivals due [to] police activity but we will try to get you in as soon as possible,” they said.
At this time, LA800 was still 500km from the airport.
“We’re still 50 miles (80km) from LUNBI (a waypoint 425km from Auckland Airport),” the pilot said.
“We will just wait for any information and hopefully we will have the emergency equipment or the persons [for] when we arrive in Auckland.”
The pilots warned Auckland Control of the injuries so it could notify emergency services.
“There are two doctors in the airplane now ... it seems like one of the crew members could be with a fracture, and the other passengers seem to have some cuts and injuries from glass and stuff like that,” they said.
“Maybe two of them have severe injuries, like a broken limb.”
The injured passengers waited almost an hour before the plane finally touched down at Auckland Airport at 4.29pm.
More than 50 people were treated by Hato Hone St John when the plane landed and 13 others were taken to hospital.
