Rough weather forced a United Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Newark to make an emergency landing at an airport in Hudson Valley, New York on Friday, the airline confirmed to the Daily News.
United Flight 85, originally scheduled to arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport at 4:40 p.m. ET, instead landed at New York Stewart International in New Windsor, some 60 miles north of Manhattan, at 6:12 p.m.
While no passengers experienced any serious injuries, approximately 200 people were evaluated by emergency personnel, Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said in a news release.
Seven passengers were transported to local hospitals for observation, with some reporting possible motion sickness and other minor injuries, according to New Windsor EMS.
The incident unfolded when the plane was approximately 750 feet off the ground, sources told WABC.
Pilots had been cleared to land in Newark when they told air controllers they were experiencing “wind shear” — a phenomenon defined by the Federal Aviation Administration as a “change in wind speed and/or direction over a short distance” — and then called a “go-around.”
The plane was then diverted to Stewart International, where passengers were met by first responders. More than two dozen people were sickened in the air.
One passenger compared the motion to that of a rollercoaster.
“Oh, it was really like Six Flags,” the passenger, Roi Gonen, told WABC. “My heart just jumped a couple times. I was texting my wife just in case.”
After landing at Stewart, “one passenger deplaned due to a medical incident, and a few other customers were seen by medical personnel for possible motion sickness,” a United spokesperson told The News.
The flight then refueled and continued to Newark, the spokesperson added. Data compiled by FlightAware shows UA 58 landed at Newark Liberty at 8:53 p.m.
The FAA is investigating the incident.
