NEW ORLEANS — A Southwest flight from New Orleans to Orlando had to divert and make an emergency landing following severe turbulence that injured at least one crew member and a passenger, the airline said in a statement Wednesday.
Flight 4273, which left Armstrong International airport at 6:40 a.m., was diverted to Tampa following the move through severe turbulence.
Southwest said that "the captain declared an emergency to deviate from the filed flight plan and requested that paramedics be available when the aircraft arrived."
The condition of the flight attendant and the customer weren't made available. They were taken to a Tampa Bay area medical facility.
The National Weather Service defines severe turbulence as "turbulence (that) causes large and abrupt changes in altitude and, usually, large variations in airspeed."
The airline said that mechanics reviewed the aircraft after landing in Tampa and that arrangements were being made with customers to get them to Orlando, with an estimated arrival about 4 and a half hours behind schedule.
"With our apologies for their delayed journey, there is no priority higher than the safest operation of every flight," said the airline.