Severe turbulence rocked a United Airlines jet out of Denver as it made its descent yesterday afternoon in Billings, Montana, and stories of just how chaotic things got are emerging. "There was a lot of screaming, a lot of hollering," says Flight 1676 passenger Bill Dahlin. Fox31 Denver reports that an infant was thrust from a parent's arms and landed two rows back; it was unharmed, though it took some time for the parent to locate the child. Dahlin tells KTVQ he heard a mother cry out for her baby, and saw something more painful: A woman whose head hit the ceiling so hard she cracked the overhead panel.
The Denver Post reports that 114 passengers and five crew were aboard; the airline says three crew members and two passengers were hospitalized, though all but one flight attendant had been released by late yesterday, per a United rep. NBC News reports that she is in critical condition. One passenger told the Post that the turbulence came suddenly, and was paired with a noisy "bang." "The sudden drop pulled everyone out of their seats, and I mean hard," he said. (More United Airlines stories.)