Turbulence Forces Avianca Flight to Divert to Miami

Severe turbulence forced Avianca Flight 042 to divert from its scheduled route between Medellín, Colombia, and New York City early Friday, October 9, 2026, sending eight people to hospitals after the aircraft landed safely at Miami International Airport at approximately 3:30 a.m., according to airport officials and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

The incident prompted an emergency response at the airport, where medical crews transported injured passengers and crew members for treatment. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue classified the situation as a Level One Mass Casualty Incident, and one injured person required treatment at a trauma center.

Authorities provided differing injury counts. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue reported that eight people were hospitalized, while Avianca officials told CBS News Miami that nine people, including three crew members and six passengers, had been injured. The severity of the injuries had not been established in the reports.

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, one patient was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. The other seven hospitalized people were transported to local hospitals by private ambulances, the agency said.

Flight tracking data from FlightAware showed that the aircraft departed José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín at 10:40 p.m. Thursday. After the diversion and emergency landing in Miami, the flight resumed its journey to New York at 8:25 a.m. Friday, according to the same tracking service.

Video recorded by a passenger and broadcast by NBC Miami appeared to show people receiving ice packs for head injuries while being instructed to keep their seat belts fastened. Television footage also showed some passengers arriving at hospitals with their luggage, while others were transported on stretchers.

One passenger described the emotional impact of the turbulence in an interview with NBC6.

"I don't want to go out. I only want to go back home," one woman aboard the plane told NBC6. "What I can tell you is you value your life so much when something like that happens."

The passenger's account reflected the distress experienced aboard the flight, although officials had not released a detailed account of how the injuries occurred or confirmed the full extent of the medical consequences.

Another passenger, Maria Paula Jimenez, told CBS News Miami that she noticed numerous emergency vehicles near the aircraft's disembarkation area as her own flight arrived at the airport.

"When we arrived, when we landed, we saw that very close to where we were going to disembark, there were more than five or six ambulances. Seven of them with their lights on as if they were waiting for something," passenger Maria Paula Jimenez told CBS News Miami in Spanish. "When we arrived, well, you know, it wasn't normal."

Avianca said its airport team was assisting passengers who were not injured with arrangements to continue their journey to New York City. The airline's statement identified three cabin crew members and six passengers among those injured, accounting for its reported total of nine people, while emergency responders confirmed eight hospitalizations.