‘He Hit the Ceiling’: Passengers Rushed to Hospital After Texas Flight Rapidly Drops 4,400 Feet

Sean James Aug 31st, 2025, 6:57 pm

Two passengers were rushed to the hospital with turbulence-induced injuries after their flight from Colorado to Texas quickly descended more than 4,000 feet in less than a minute. The plane, initially heading from Aspen, Colorado to Houston, Texas on Thursday, was forced to land in Austin due to “severe turbulence” that resulted in at least one of the aforementioned passengers bonking their head on the ceiling.

“We will need a stretcher,” the pilot told air traffic control, according to audio obtained by LiveATC.net . “I know that there is bleeding as well.”

SkyWest Flight 5971, about 90 minutes into the trip, dropped from a cruising altitude of 39,000

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