Several flights were diverted to Waco Regional Airport in central Texas on Sunday due to turbulence caused by a nearby storm system. One of the affected flights was Houston-bound SkyWest flight 5690, operating as a United Express flight, which had to land at Waco Regional Airport after experiencing turbulence on its route from Springfield, Missouri. SkyWest Airlines reported that five passengers were taken to the hospital, but did not provide further details on their conditions.
The flight, carrying 28 passengers and three crew members, landed safely at Waco Regional Airport. Medical personnel met and evaluated the passengers upon arrival. Two other flights that were diverted to Waco Regional Airport were American Airlines aircraft bound for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed the diversions were due to storms at DFW and stated that the flights later re-departed.
The turbulent weather was caused by a weak storm system moving across parts of northern Texas on Sunday. Another storm is expected to impact the South on Monday, intensifying as it moves to the Lower Mississippi River Valley by Tuesday.
These flight diversions come in the wake of several recent incidents involving aircraft safety, including a deadly midair collision over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a Medevac jet crash in Philadelphia, and a regional airline crash off the coast of Nome, Alaska, resulting in 10 fatalities. Last month, a plane crash during landing in Toronto led to all 80 passengers on board surviving after the aircraft caught fire and flipped upside-down.
Over the weekend, a Delta Airlines flight bound for New Orleans had to return to Boston due to a smoky odor detected in the cabin.
