United flight makes emergency landing in Texas after 5 injured from turbulence

Five people were injured and hospitalized after experiencing severe turbulence on a United Airlines flight from Missouri to Texas on Sunday, March 2.

The turbulence forced the flight to make an emergency landing in Waco instead o

f its intended stop in Houston, according to NBC News.The SkyWest Flight 5690, operating as United Express, a United Airlines regional flight service network, had 29 passengers and three crew members on the flight, according to NBC News. While in the air, the plane experienced turbulence that hurt five passengers, SkyWest told NBC News in a statement. Medical personnel met and evaluated passengers, and five passengers were transported to the hospital,” SkyWest told NBC. “SkyWest and United are making sure all customers get the care they need and dispatched another aircraft to fly the customers from Waco to Houston.”

Interim Director of Aviation at Waco Michal A. Reisman told KY3 that a storm was approaching the area as the plane entered Texas. Several other flights in the area were rerouted to Waco due to weather, Reisman said. The flight had originated out of Springfield, Missouri.The emergency landing is one of the several aviation incidents that have occurred this year. A FedEx cargo plane traveling from Newark to Indianapolis struck a bird during takeoff and was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday, March 1, according to NBC News. On February 24, a Delta Air Lines flight was also forced to make an emergency landing due to a smoke-related issue.