Eight people were taken to Miami hospitals early Friday after a flight to New York City was forced to divert to Miami International Airport due to severe turbulence, according to officials. According to Miami International Airport officials, Avianca Flight 42 was en route from Medellin, Colombia, to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when severe turbulence was reported. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the flight landed safely at MIA around 3:30 a.m. According to MDFR, eight people were airlifted. However, airline officials told CBS News Miami that nine people, three crew members and six passengers, were injured. A passenger who was at Miami International Airport when the Avianca flight arrived said she saw several ambulances waiting to help care for the injured. “When we arrived, when we landed, we saw that very close to where we were going to disembark, there were more than five or six ambulances. Seven of them with their lights on as if they were waiting for something,” passenger María Paula Jiménez told CBS News Miami in Spanish. “When we got there, well, you know, it wasn’t normal.” Avianca officials said the remaining passengers were being assisted by the airline’s airport team to make arrangements to continue their journey to New York City. The Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News Miami that the agency would be investigating the incident. The extent of the injuries is unknown. In:
