Delta Flight Hit by Worst Case of Turbulence This Year, 25 Hospitalized

A Delta Air Lines flight went from calm to chaos in an instant during dinner service, plunging into a terrifying nosedive that left 25 passengers hospitalized ... making it one of the worst incidents of turbulence this year.

The Airbus A330-900 was en route to Amsterdam from Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday when turbulence hit hard ... violently throwing service carts and unbelted passengers to the ceiling, before making an emergency landing in Minnesota.

Passenger Joseph Carbone told CNN he honestly thought the plane was going down, grabbed his wife’s hand, and braced for impact. When they landed safely, he kissed the ground.

He said it was pure chaos -- stuff flying everywhere, and he even watched a flight attendant smash into the ceiling!

Fire trucks were on the tarmac as the plane landed at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International, with medical teams ready to take the affected passengers to the hospital for evaluation and care. Delta said most of the 25 passengers have since been released.