Turbulence aboard Allegiant flight injures 2 passengers, 2 flight attendants

Two passengers and two flight attendants were injured when a plane plunged nearly a mile during severe turbulence Wednesday while flying from North Carolina to Florida, officials said.

The Allegiant flight was traveling from Asheville Regional Airport to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, where it landed normally and taxied to the gate under its own power, the airline said in a statement. The plane was carrying 179 passengers and six crew members.

The Airbus A320 dropped about 5,000 feet, from an elevation of about 18,000 feet to 13,000 feet, in less than two minutes, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Airport paramedics met the plane to assess the four injured people, Allegiant said. They were taken to a nearby hospital, but officials didn't immediately provide details about their injuries.

Allegiant said it was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate.

Earlier this month, a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu to Sydney hit severe turbulence, injuring seven people on board. And last year, 20 people were hospitalized, with 11 seriously injured, after turbulence struck a Hawaiian Airlines plane flying from Phoenix to Honolulu.