- A flight en route to Mallorca, a Spanish island, was rocked by severe turbulence on Sunday.
- Footage posted to social media showed passengers screaming and crying as the cabin jolted.
In a video posted to Instagram and shared with Insider, Estela Orts, a passenger on an Air Europa flight, captured the moment extreme turbulence rocked the plane, shaking the cabin and causing some passengers to scream, cry, and grip their seats.
The flight, which left Alicante, Spain, en route to the Spanish island Mallorca on Sunday, was caught in the storms that hammered the country over the weekend. According to The Guardian, winds across the area were strong enough to rip palm trees from the ground and topple boats.
The airline did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Orts wrote in her Instagram story Sunday that the flight was initially delayed due to the weather, according to the Daily Mail. After it eventually took off, she wrote that the flight was bumpy but nothing unusual.
Watch the latest video at foxbusiness.com"I had already written to my family (who were a bit scared), because they had seen the storm on the news," Orts wrote in her post.
"[Then] IT HAPPENED," her post continued. "The plane started to fall. People and children screaming, being sick, I couldn't help crying. I don't know how long that moment lasted but it felt eternal."
Orts added in her post that the experience felt like "a rollercoaster."
The video, shared with Insider Tuesday, showed people screaming and crying out while the woman in front of Orts held onto the seat in front of her. Orts said she was scared because she realized that saving herself would be out of her control.
"At that moment the situation got the best of me," she told Insider. "I started to shake, I noticed that I was having anxiety, I saw that saving me did not depend on me, so I couldn't help but cry."
The flight ultimately returned to Alicante, where she'd have to wait for a different flight to Mallorca on Monday afternoon. She said that when she landed, her family came running to hug her — adding that she was scared to board Monday's flight to Mallorca.
"I was in shock practically the whole day," she said. "At night, I exploded and started crying; I couldn't express my emotions in any other way."
"Yesterday, I still had fear in my body because I had to fly again for work," she added. "But the flight was very calm."
While Air Europa hasn't apologized directly, Orts told Insider, she said the pilot apologized upon landing and explained why there was increased turbulence.
Orts' flight wasn't the only travel experience affected by the storms in Mallorca this weekend. On Sunday, the BBC reported a cruise ship broke free from its moorings and collided with a freight vessel. According to The Independent, more than 300 cruise passengers had to cut their trip short after the collision.