Plane fills with smoke & forces emergency landing with 12 passengers injured & one crew member in intensive care
Yesterday at 11:32 AM
A Swiss Airlines flight from Bucharest to Zurich turned into a terrifying ordeal right before Christmas.
The cabin filled with heavy smoke, forcing an emergency landing in Graz, Austria.
Monday’s incident left 12 passengers injured, while one crew member remains in intensive care after suffering serious injuries.
Footage captured by passengers showed the cabin enveloped in thick smoke, reportedly caused by engine problems.
Witness accounts suggest one of the engines exploded, sparking a fire and filling the cabin with smoke.
"There was a strange noise, a lot of smoke, and people couldn't breathe," a passenger told Austrian outlet Kleine Zeitung.
"I was sleeping when I woke up to the smell of smoke. I panicked and didn't know what was happening."
Another witness reported seeing an explosion and fire in the engine before the cabin became engulfed in smoke.
The crew made the decision to divert the flight to Graz, where the plane made an emergency landing.
All 74 passengers and five crew members were evacuated from the aircraft.
Local police confirmed that 17 people required medical attention. Among them, one flight attendant was found unconscious during the evacuation and had to be resuscitated.
He was airlifted to a hospital in Graz, where he remains in intensive care.
Social media criticism has mounted against the airline after a picture from inside the smoke-filled cabin appeared to show no oxygen masks deployed to assist passengers with breathing.
Swiss Airlines has expressed concern for the injured crew member, stating: "Our thoughts are with those affected, and we firmly hope for our colleague's recovery."
The airline also confirmed that specialists are providing support to the hospitalised crew member's family.
The company added that a care team, technicians, and support staff had been dispatched to Graz to assist passengers and crew.
The Graz airport was temporarily closed following the incident, causing delays and travel disruptions.
Swiss Airlines arranged a special flight for Tuesday morning to return passengers to Zurich, ensuring they could reach their destination before Christmas.
An investigation into the cause of the engine failure and smoke is underway, with the airline vowing full cooperation with authorities.
