It was last week that a 47-year-old man from Germany was to travel from Bali to New Zealand. The flight that was supposed to take him and a partner to their holiday destination took around seven hours. It’s seven hours the German will probably not soon forget.
Around 30 minutes after take-off, the seat belt light went out, and the 47-year-old decided to take an ever so small trip to the toilet.
When he was on his way back to the seat after a so far successful visit to the toilet, things went wrong.
That’s what the New Zealand Herald and News.com.au write.
Struck by turbulence
At the same time as the man made his way down the aisle, the Boeing 787 machines from Air New Zealand were shaken by turbulence. According to the man himself, he felt that the whole plane ended up in a free fall at the same time as he was standing upright.
The turbulence left a painful result, and was strong enough that there was later an apology from the cockpit.
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– His leg was broken in two, says a friend of the man who was waiting to pick him up at Auckland airport.
Watch video: Had to abort landing several times
Made contact
In classic fashion, the crew on board must have asked the passengers if there was a doctor among them. It was, but when it came to painkillers, only the lighter variety was available.
Despite the pain, it was decided that the plane should continue towards its destination, which at the time was around six and a half hours away. The crew contacted a medical database which advised that it was safe to continue the journey towards New Zealand.
In the run-up to the incident, Air New Zealand has made it clear that the plane would have turned around if the advice from the professionals had been different.
On arrival in Auckland, the unfortunate 47-year-old was picked up by ambulance workers.
