Cathay Pacific passengers and crew injured in turbulence incident

“The flight arrived in Hong Kong at 06:45am (local time) 22 May. Medical personnel boarded the aircraft to assess the conditions of a small number of passengers and crew who reported feeling unwell, and they were provided with the utmost level of care,” a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said.

“Six cabin crew and four passengers reported minor injuries, and eight of them were sent to the hospital for further medical care. We will continue to follow up and provide the necessary assistance. The safety of our customers and crew guides every decision we make.”

The incident has drawn comparisons to the turbulence event aboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London to Singapore in May 2024, which resulted in dozens of injuries and one death. A final report released last week concluded that the weather radar may not have detected, or may have under-detected, the thunderstorms encountered by the 777-300ER over Myanmar.

According to aviation lawyer Peter Carter of Carter Capner Law, the explanation of clear air turbulence may prove “misplaced”.

“Cathay said its aircraft encountered a weather system that appeared with ‘little warning’, much like the initial explanation by Singapore Airlines, which claimed its accident was caused by unforeseeable ‘clear air turbulence’,” he said.

“However, aircrews in both events would surely have received forecasts indicating the likelihood of thunderstorms on their planned route and ought to have been hypervigilant while transiting places of known convective activity.

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“Pilots are trained to stay well distant from storms because aircraft can be severely affected several thousands of feet above a thunderstorm cell and up to 20 miles laterally.

“A further investigation will be needed for the Cathay flight to determine exactly what happened – what weather was forecast; how close were the storms; how quickly did the aircrew react?”

In a press release, Carter said affected passengers are entitled to compensation based on the extent of their injuries.

“Even if the airline is not at fault, the Montréal 1999 Convention enables passengers to claim up to A$260,000 for proven losses like medical expenses, loss of amenities of life and income loss for proven bodily injury,” he said.

“The airline must also pay a higher amount unless it proves the accident was not due to its negligence or that of its pilots or engineers, so in that respect there is no longer a limit on compensation.

“All passengers on the Cathay Pacific flight irrespective of where they live, are able to claim.”

Carter represented a number of passengers on SQ321 in their compensation claims against Singapore Airlines, as well as LATAM flight 800, which also saw a turbulence event in March 2024.