A British Airways flight attendant suffered an ankle injury after encountering unforeseen clear-air turbulence during a flight from Rome to London Heathrow on Wednesday evening.
LONDON — Flight BA559 departed Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport at 18:45 local time on October 7, bound for London. The flight was operated by an Airbus A319, registration G-EUPU.
According to flight track data, the aircraft initially cruised at 36,000 feet while transiting Italian airspace before stepping up to 38,000 feet over France.
But before that, the flight encountered sudden, unpredicted turbulence on climb out from Rome. During the rough patch, a female cabin crew member lost her footing and sustained a painful ankle injury.
As the aircraft descended toward Heathrow, the flight crew contacted British Airways operations to report the incident and request medical coordination upon arrival. Because the working cabin crew was originally scheduled to operate next flight BA1340 to Newcastle Airport (NCL), the flight deck cautioned airline ops that the injured crew member would be unable to perform her duties for the subsequent flight, requiring an immediate replacement.
The aircraft landed safely at London Heathrow, where ground staff and medical teams were alerted to assist the injured flight attendant upon arrival at the gate. It later departed on time to Newcastle.
