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Passengers say they feared the Latam plane that experienced a sudden mid-flight plunge between Sydney and Auckland would go down into the Tasman Sea.

Brisbane woman Clara Azevedo, 28, said it felt like a “miracle” when the pilot gained control of the plane after feeling the plane “free-fall” for what she thought was 10 seconds.

“We were not sure if we were going to make it or not,” Azevedo said.

When the Herald spoke to Azevedo, she was with a group of passengers sharing breakfast at the hotel the airline transferred them to about 2am.

She was uninjured during the fall, but a 68-year-old woman sitting near her, who did not speak English, broke two ribs and injured her shoulder. Azevedo spent her night translating for her in the hospital.

The woman has begged to be released from the hospital with strong pain medicine so she can recover at home, and that would take 6-8 weeks according to doctors, Azevedo said.

Travellers were awaiting an explanation of the cause as some prepare to face a long-haul flight to Santiago, Chile — the final destination of flight LA800.

Azevedo and the injured woman will both catch the flight at 8 tonight and are feeling “terrified”.

Azevedo was hoping for medicinal assistance to sleep the whole flight or else “she didn’t think she would survive it”.

• 'Blood streaming down his face': Latam flight drop horror; what pilot told passengers
• 'Passengers thrown into ceiling' as flight to Auckland suddenly loses altitude

Australian man Jacob Thompson, 33, said he hit his head and watched his partner get “thrown down the aisle” during the incident.

“We didn’t know if we would make it to landing.”

He said the drop “did not feel like turbulence” and he had never felt something like this before.

Sydney woman Thais Iwamoto, 26, was sleeping in the emergency row during the initial flight and was jolted awake by the drop.

“So when I woke up and I was falling, I looked to the side and everyone’s screaming and in shock,” Iwamoto said.

“The guy on the other row, he hit his head on the baggage compartment and he actually like broke the thing.”

She is frustrated at the lack of information they are getting from Latam and the treatment they received last night.

Passengers were given a single McDonald’s cheeseburger while waiting at the terminal once the plane landed, and were not fed again until this morning.

“It’s just ridiculous, just so disorganised after what we have been through,” Iwamoto said.

Latam said in a statement this morning that the cause of the incident, which the airline described as a “strong shake”, was under investigation.

Chile’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission would investigate, and Chile would send a representative to join the inquiry.

Aviation expert Irene King said it was hard to tell at this stage if it was a system or human-based issue.

She had never seen the “sheer volume” of injuries like this before, but believes it could be clear air turbulence, which typically comes with “no warning”.

“You just go bang into it, like hitting a brick wall,” King said.

She said she had concerns about this theory because normally, airlines will state “fairly quickly” that clear air turbulence is the cause.

“Airlines don’t usually use the term technical issues. It just doesn’t feel right in terms of the explanation.”

Former pilot and aviation teacher Ashok Poduval said broadly speaking, a sudden loss of altitude could happen if an autopilot system malfunctioned or a plane experienced clear air turbulence.

”I don’t think I ever lost control of an aircraft. That rarely happens. I’ve had all kinds of turbulence,” he told the Herald.

New Zealand Air Line Pilots’ Association (NZALPA) president Andrew McKeen has offered support to the aircrew involved.

He said it was “human nature” to speculate on the cause, but letting the investigation take place without conjecture was the “most responsible approach”.

An ambulance at Auckland International Airport after passengers were injured during a Latam flight from Sydney. Photo / Dean Purcell

Fifty people were treated by St John at the scene once the plane touched down, and 13 required further treatment at hospital. Four remain in Middlemore Hospital with “significant” injuries, says Health NZ Te Whatu Ora.

Latam said the passengers injured during the flight were from five countries.

Ten passengers from Brazil, France, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand, as well as three cabin crew members, were taken to hospital.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.