A dog was on the Lufthansa flight that hit turbulence so severe it sent 7 passengers to the hospital, and it took hours for the owner to learn if the pup was OK
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- A dog was on the Lufthansa flight that made an emergency landing, and it took hours before the owner learned that the pup is okay.
- Garrett Stuteville had told Insider he couldn't get in touch with anyone about his pet dog. Lufthansa later confirmed the dog wasn't hurt.
- Seven injured people were taken to the hospital after the plane hit severe turbulence.
A dog was on the Lufthansa flight from Austin, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany that was forced to make an emergency landing in Washington, DC, after hitting severe turbulence that injured seven people.
It took hours for the dog's owner to learn that the pup was okay.
Garrett Stuteville, who lives in Singapore, told Insider that his dog was traveling from Texas to Singapore and was set to have a layover in Frankfurt so he could get out of his cage for a few hours.
But after the plane landed at Dulles Airport, Stuteville said he hadn't heard from the airline or the airport for an update on how his dog is doing.
"All we know is he is still locked in the cage which is now going on 10+ hours. And we don't know when the flight is supposed to leave. We were told he could not be let out of the cage because of 'TSA screening' rules. We just want to know that he is okay from someone who is there," Stuteville told Insider.
He added that he and his wife hired a company in the US to "handle the transportation process" to get their dog from the states to Singapore. The agent they hired has been able to get in touch with Lufthansa agents in Germany, Stuteville said, but no representatives from Washington, DC, have been in touch.
Lufthansa later told Insider that the dog was unharmed and was flying to Singapore.
Lufthansa flight 469 was forced to land at Dulles International Airport around 9:10 p.m., according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The flight experienced a "brief severe turbulence" around 90 minutes into its route, prompting the emergency landing, according to a Lufthansa spokesperson.
"This was so-called clear air turbulence, which can occur without visible weather phenomena or advance warning," the spokesperson said.
They added that some passengers sustained "minor injuries" during the period of turbulence and were given care onboard.
But according to the statement from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, at least seven people were injured and hospitalized because of the turbulence.
A man who said his wife was on the flight posted a photo to Twitter of the plane after the emergency landing, showing a mess of trash and food trays scattered along the aisle of the aircraft. He said the pilot told the passengers that lightning struck the plane.
—Stryker Fadhel (@ModerMuna) March 2, 2023
Another passenger told the Washington Post that the plane went into a "free-fall" as flight attendants were handing out dinner.
The FAA said in a statement to Insider that they will investigate what happened.