“People flew through the air because they weren’t wearing their seatbelts,” a passenger told public broadcaster RNZ.
“Some people got pretty injured. People were really scared as well,” the unidentified man said, his voice shaking.
Passenger Brian Jokat told local news website Stuff he had been sleeping when the incident happened, and he woke up to see his seat neighbour on the ceiling of the plane.
“His back is on the ceiling and he’s up in the air, and then he drops down and hits his head on the armrest. The whole plane is screaming,” said Jokat, describing the scene.
“The plane then [starts] taking a nose-dive and I [am] just thinking, ‘OK this is it, we’re done’.”
A spokesperson for the Chile-based airline said “a technical event during the flight” had “caused a strong movement”.
“The plane landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled,” the airline said, adding it “deeply regrets any inconvenience and discomfort this situation may have caused”.
It was not immediately clear what caused the incident.
Our ambulance crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one patient in a serious condition
Gerard Campbell of the St John New Zealand ambulance service said medics were first made aware of the problem as the plane descended into New Zealand’s largest city.
A phalanx of more than a dozen ambulances and other medical vehicles rushed to the scene to treat the wounded.
“Our ambulance crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one patient in a serious condition and the remainder in a moderate to minor condition,” Campbell said.
“Twelve patients were transported to hospital,” he said, after earlier putting the number at 13.
At least three of those treated were cabin crew members.
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Mobile phone footage shared by the NZ Herald showed concerned crew and passengers attending to one injured woman, while flight attendants asked if there was a doctor aboard.
Data from airline tracker FlightAware showed the plane lost altitude about two hours into the three-hour flight.
Boeing is still reeling from a near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight.
Boeing representatives were not immediately available for comment.
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New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it was “aware of the reported incident” and was “gathering further information to inform a decision as to whether to open an inquiry”.
The incident could be investigated by Chilean authorities if it was found to have occurred in international airspace.
LATAM said passengers destined for Santiago would now leave New Zealand on Tuesday evening.