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At least 25 people were hurt after a passenger plane to Amsterdam was caught in turbulence.

A routine flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam turned into a nightmare when the Airbus plane suddenly plunged due to turbulence.

The Delta Air Lines flight DL56 had departed Utah at about 10.30pm yesterday when it got caught in severe conditions over Minnesota.

The Airbus A330 plane with 288 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport after the sudden fall caused multiple injuries.

At least 25 people were taken to local hospitals for assessment and treatment.

The plane dropped around 1,000ft within seconds, which must have been ‘scary for passengers,’ aviation consultant Bernard Lavelle said.

Pilots will try to steer clear of turbulence if they see active weather belts, Mr Lavelle told Metro.

However, turbulence can sometimes be invisible on the radars, known as clear turbulence.

He said: ‘Sometimes turbulence is just there, and the most difficult one is clear air turbulence – you are going through a clear sky and suddenly you hit turbulence and you don’t see it, so that can be challenging.

‘If the pilots can see the turbulence, they will put the seatbelt sign on and get people to return to their seats, and if it is severe, get the crew to sit down as well. But pilots don’t always pick it up on radar or haven’t had that information.’

Delta Air Lines said: ‘Delta flight DL56 – flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam – diverted to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Wednesday after the flight encountered significant turbulence while en route.

‘The aircraft, an Airbus A330-900, landed safely at MSP, and medical personnel met the flight upon arrival to evaluate customers and crew.

‘Twenty-five of those on board were transported to local hospitals for evaluation and care.

‘We are grateful for the support of all emergency responders involved. Safety is our number one value at Delta, and our Delta Care Team is working directly with customers to support their immediate needs.’

Mr Lavelle said the biggest risk from turbulence is for people who don’t have their seatbelts on and from flying debris.

‘Airlines recommend keeping your seatbelt on unless you are stretching your legs or going to the toilet,’ he said.

The expert said that there has been ‘an increase in turbulence, especially in Asia.’

Mr Lavelle said: ‘There is an increasing number of flights around the world that are subject to turbulence of some kind because of climate change.

‘There is a lot of impact on flights. It is becoming more usual than unusual, which is frustrating, but it is still a very small number of flights to put it into context,’ he added.

Last year, an Air Europa flight hit turbulence so bad that one of the passengers was catapulted into the overhead lockers.

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New footage of a Ryanair passenger dropping to her knees and sobbing after being denied boarding on a plane to Vienna ‘proves she was right’.

Tsvetana Kalinina has been identified as the woman in the now viral video at Bulgaria’s Sofia Airport where she got in a heated argument with ground staff over her hand luggage, which they claimed was too big.

The 55-year-old begged to be allowed on the aircraft – all the while the rest of the passengers watched the ordeal from inside the bus heading to lead them to the tarmac.

Still traumatised from what happened and missing her flight, the tearful kindergarten teacher said she felt as though she had been treated ‘like a criminal.’ 

She insists that she did nothing wrong, and claims a new video – showing her rucksack fitting into the airline’s baggage sizer – backs up her side of the story.

Recalling the ordeal, Tsvetana said she had a small handbag and her usual cabin bag – the very same one she had travelled with for years.

She told the Daily Mail: ‘I did not even think it could be a problem. When I started to check in, the Ryanair staff member suddenly told me I could not carry both. 

‘My handbag was nearly empty – just my documents and a wallet. The man behind me offered to tuck the handbag into his own luggage so I could go through.

‘But even after that, the Ryanair employee insisted I had to pay a fee, and he had to check the size of my cabin luggage. 

‘While I was trying to carefully place it in the sizer – because I had fragile items – the staff member just said, “That’s it. I’m cancelling your ticket”.

Tsvetana said she was not given enough time to respond before staff escalated the situation and banned her from the flight.

She pleaded with fellow passengers for support but it was no use while police officers were trying to escort her out of the gate.

The woman added: It was humiliating. Completely degrading. And I truly don’t believe I did anything wrong, I followed the rules.’

Her emotional state eventually got so ‘bad’ that she was eventually taken to a doctor at the airport

She recalled: ‘The stress and shock overwhelmed me. I don’t remember everything because I was in such a state. I broke down.’

Nikolay Stefanov, who captured a video of the incident, said Ryanair had initially offered the woman to pay extra for her baggage, but she refused as her bag fit in the compartment.

Yet, the airline insists that the bag exceeded the permitted size, and that when Tsvetana was asked to pay the extra fee, she refused and became ‘aggressive’ towards staff.

The ordeal comes as Michael O’Leary, the CEO of the Irish budget airliner,said the company may increase the bonus it pays to workers for identifying passengers with oversized bags.

Ryanair staff already get an incentive of £1.30 per bag for intercepting customers who bring oversized bags on to an aircraft.

A statement from the airline said earlier this month: ‘We are determined to eliminate the scourge of oversized bags which delay boarding and are clearly unfair on the over 99% of our passengers who comply with our baggage rule.’

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