Southwest attendant suffers broken back in hard landing
Federal safety investigators say a Southwest Airlines flight attendant's upper back vertebra compressed during a rough landing in California last month.
National Transportation Safety Board: Landing was so harsh the flight attendant assumed the jet crashed.
She was hospitalized with back and neck agony and could not move and diagnosed with a fracture.
The NTSB reported that none of the other 141 passengers on the jet were hurt at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.
The pilots told investigators they were aiming for the short runway's regular touchdown zone.
Southwest, of Dallas, stated Monday, “We reported the matter to the NTSB in accordance with regulatory requirements and conducted an internal review of the event.
When questioned about the internal investigation's results and whether the jet was assessed for hard landing damage
an airline spokeswoman declined to comment. The plane has been flying many times a day, tracking services said.
After the 18-year-old Boeing 737-700 taxiing off the runway, the 55-year-old captain and 49-year-old co-pilot learned of the flight attendant's