A flight attendant has been seriously injured after a bumpy landing in California.
The crew member - who was working aboard a Southwest Airlines flight - suffered a fracture to a vertebra in her upper back when the plane touched down at the John Wayne-Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, California, on July 1.
According to The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the flight attendant was seated correctly in a jump seat at the back of the plane. She had her safety belt on and had assumed the "brace position" in preparation for a bumpy landing.
Despite this, as soon as the plane made contact with the tarmac she felt an overwhelming pain in her back and neck. The pilots onboard - a 55-year-old captain and 49-year-old co-pilot - were told about the injury and contacted emergency services. Unable to move, the flight attendant was taken to a local hospital, where she was diagnosed with a "compression fracture to her T3 vertebra."
While it is clear that the flight attendant suffered a serious spinal injury, exactly how she was hurt remains uncertain. Per the NTSB, none of the other 141 people on board the plane were injured during the landing.
Meanwhile, tracking services show that the plane - an 18-year-old Boeing 737-700 - was successfully making several flights a day prior to the incident. CBS News reported that: "A spokeswoman for the airline declined to provide further information when asked about the result of the internal investigation and whether the plane was inspected for evidence of damage that could occur during a hard landing."
Dallas-based airline Southwest told People that the safety of their staff and customers is a "top priority" and claimed to have carried out an internal review into the incident.
"The safety of Southwest's customers and employees is always our top priority. We are concerned when any employee is injured. We reported the matter to the National Transportation Safety Board in accordance with regulatory requirements and conducted an internal review of the event," the airline stated.
Documents from the NTSB's investigation into the event have not yet been made publicly available.
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