8 hospitalized after plane makes emergency landing at Miami International Airport

Eight people were hospitalized after a plane headed to New York made an emergency landing at Miami International Airport early Friday morning, officials say.

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Avianca flight 042 was traveling from Medellin, Colombia, to New York’s JFK Airport diverted to MIA due to turbulence and landed at 3:30 a.m. today, according to MIA spokesman, Gren Chin.

Eight people were taken to the hospital, Chin said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the situation was a Level One Mass Casualty Incident, with one person being taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center. The other seven were taken to “local area hospitals by private ambulances,” according to MDFR.

Of those injured, three were cabin crew members and six were passengers, Avianca said in a statement.

The flight took off from José María Córdova International Airport at 10:40 p.m. Thursday before making the emergency stop, according to FlightAware. The plane took off to New York at 8:25 a.m., according to FlightAware.

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What could have caused the severe turbulence?

Rather than focus on what could have caused the turbulence— a disturbance in the air often that is often weather-related — people should be questioning why the pilots did not do everything possible to avoid it, said Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney at Podhurst Orseck lawfirm.

“Pilots have a duty and an obligation under international and domestic regulations to conduct an extensive pre-flight check,” Rojas said. “They check all the essential components of it. They check the instrument panel that they have in the cockpit, and they also check the weather. Pilots have these days an incredible wealth of information. “

With all the technology, experience and communication with air traffic control, pilots can understand what type of weather they’re flying into and alter their flight path, said Rojas, whose law firm is representing a survivor of the fatal Amazon-branded cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport.

“It really poses the question of why the pilots were either unaware of the weather or maybe made a decision not to alter their flight path early enough to avoid it,” Rojas said.

Read more 8 hospitalized after plane makes emergency landing at Miami International Airport

This story may be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 7:33 AM.