Two flight attendants were injured after an American Airlines flight bound for London Heathrow encountered severe turbulence, forcing the aircraft to divert to New York.
American Airlines flight AA174, operated by a Boeing 777-200 (N785AN), departed Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, on the evening of Wednesday, July 22, and was heading to Heathrow when the aircraft encountered significant turbulence around an hour into the journey. There were 239 people onboard, including passengers and crew.
According to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), two cabin crew members were injured during the incident, prompting the flight crew to declare an emergency and divert to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
As the 777 approached JFK, pilots informed ATC that there were multiple injuries on board. “We have two flight attendants injured due to turbulence,” the pilot reported in an audio recording obtained by ATC.com.
The aircraft landed safely shortly before 2300 hrs local time, where emergency services met the flight. Because of the early diversion, the aircraft also had to perform an overweight landing, a procedure that requires additional engineering inspections before it can return to service. The FAA has confirmed it is investigating the incident.
The airline has not released details about the extent of the flight attendants’ injuries, although no passenger injuries have been reported.
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Crew At Risk
While turbulence can be unsettling for passengers, it is often cabin crew who are at the greatest risk. Unlike passengers, flight attendants are frequently standing, walking through the cabin or operating service trolleys when unexpected turbulence strikes, leaving them particularly vulnerable to falls and impact injuries.
Aviation safety experts have repeatedly stressed the importance of passengers keeping their seat belts fastened whenever they are seated, even if the seat belt sign has been switched off. Unexpected clear-air turbulence can develop with little or no warning, giving cabin crew and passengers very little time to prepare.
Flight Safety Foundation data shows that 26 turbulence-related airliner accidents were recorded worldwide during 2025, down from 35 in 2024 but still above the five-year annual average of 22.6. Turbulence remained the most frequently recorded accident category for commercial airliners for the fourth consecutive year. The figure covers events meeting the formal definition of an aviation accident—typically involving serious injury or substantial aircraft damage—rather than every routine encounter with rough air, meaning the true number of turbulence events experienced by flights was considerably higher.
As the FAA continues its investigation, the injured crew members are expected to receive medical support, while the aircraft undergoes the required inspections before returning to service.
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