7 hurt after Lufthansa flight experiences ‘significant turbulence,' diverts to Washington D.C. area

Seven people on a Lufthansa flight from Texas to Germany were taken to hospitals Wednesday after the plane experienced “significant turbulence” and diverted to a Washington, D.C., area airport, officials said.

Lufthansa Flight 469 was flying from Austin to Frankfurt when it encountered the turbulence and landed at Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.

The plane landed safely at the airport at 9:12 p.m., the agency said.

Lufthansa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Seven passengers were taken to hospitals, the authority said. Their conditions were not immediately released.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew reported encountering severe turbulence around 37,000 feet, while the aircraft was over Tennessee. The FAA will investigate.

Turbulence, which the National Weather Service describes as irregular motion of the air resulting from eddies and vertical currents, sometimes sends passengers to hospitals and forces unexpected landings.

In December, 25 people on a Hawaiian Airlines flight were hurt after a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu experienced turbulence. Eight people were hurt in June during a flight from Florida to Tennessee, which diverted to Alabama.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com