Severe turbulence during the flight leads to the death of a person

WINDSOR LOCKS, Connecticut –

A business jet experienced severe turbulence over New England, officials said Saturday, killing a rare passenger and forcing the plane to divert to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.

Five people were on board the Bombardier business jet that was rocked by turbulence late Friday afternoon as it was traveling from Keene, New Hampshire, to Leesburg, Virginia, said Sarah Sollick, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board.

It was not clear the extent of the damage to the plane and the National Transportation Safety Board did not provide details, including whether the victim was wearing a seat belt.

The plane is owned by Conexon, a company based in Kansas City, Missouri, according to an FAA database. The company, which provides high-speed internet service to rural communities, declined to comment on Saturday.

Sollick said NTSB investigators interviewed two surviving crew members and passengers as part of an investigation into the fatal turbulence encounter. He added that the voice and data recorders in the plane’s cockpit have been sent to NTSB headquarters for analysis.

Turbulence, an unstable air in the atmosphere, continues to harm airline passengers despite improvements in airline safety over the years.

Earlier this week, seven people were injured so seriously they were taken to hospitals after a Lufthansa Airbus A330 experienced turbulence on a flight from Texas to Germany. The plane was diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

But deaths are extremely rare.

“I don’t remember the last death due to turbulence,” said Robert Sumwalt, former NTSB Chairman and Executive Director of the Center for Aerospace and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Turbulence caused more than a third of accidents on major commercial airlines between 2009 and 2018, according to the NTSB.