Narrative:

Started our flight at a cruise altitude of FL330 started to get bumpy about 15 minutes into cruise. Then moderate turbulence I told flight attendants (fas) to be seated. Made a PA about suspending service; changed altitude to FL310; better ride for 5 minutes; changed altitude again to FL290; reduced IAS to 290. Then to descended to FL270. Finally found a smooth ride; waited 5 minutes; called the fas; told them that I was going to keep the seat belt sign on; but it should be ok for them to start moving in the galley; don't bring the carts out the aisle yet and see where this ride will go. Almost 5 minutes later we encountered moderate turbulence for 5-10 seconds; then 30 seconds of severe turbulence; followed by 1 minute of moderate turbulence; commanded the fas to take their jumpseats over the PA. We were able to get a lower altitude of FL250; aircraft (AC) was stable called the purser to find out if everyone was alright. She explained that all the passengers were down and ok; but that [a flight attendant] had injured his knee; wrist and bumped his head; and that [another flight attendant] hurt his ribs and maybe back. I talked to them about deviating or to ask if there was; any medical personnel on board who could help evaluate them; we decided to continue on. They all agreed to continue; but to have emts meet the AC [at destination]; to help evaluate them; and see the extent of injury and go to clinic or hospital if necessary. Notified dispatch with multiple messages; while notifying dispatch of our situation and notifying [medical services] for us; while relaying the info; got messages from [company] flt. Ops manger; [flight operations]; ops manager in ord; and [maintenance] about the severe turbulence; asking if I referenced the quick reference guide (qrg) yet for the turbulence action guide. All the while sending multiple messages asking the names; file number then age of my fas; info that is readily available to them; while we were managing the AC for the remainder of the flight. Because remf at FL250 was showing about 3.2 thousand pounds. Not a very safe option. To many messages about info that they already had if they just took a moment to think about the messages I sent to dispatch. Also; trying to get better information from ATC as far as rides went was difficult; because each controller had a different story as far as rides and altitude. 10-15 later I made a PA to the passengers about what happened and that the AC was fine and my fas had been banged up a little; but we were going to continue on.approximately 20-30 minutes later I talked to the fas again to make sure they were alright; and explained to them what happened on our end and the messages sent. Then I asked if they were really ok; because I explained to them that they were running on adrenaline; and might not feel yet; but if things change please let us know. So we continued to mco. P.south. Original flight had us at FL310 climbing to FL350 through that area; with a flight plan remf of 6;000 pounds.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The flight crew of this 737 flight; and the responsible dispatcher; reported an enroute encounter with severe turbulence. No passengers were injured. However; two flight attendants were injured but elected to continue to the destination where they received medical attention.

Narrative: Started our flight at a cruise altitude of FL330 started to get bumpy about 15 minutes into cruise. Then moderate turbulence I told Flight Attendants (FAs) to be seated. Made a PA about suspending service; changed Altitude to FL310; better ride for 5 minutes; Changed Altitude again to FL290; reduced IAS to 290. Then to descended to FL270. Finally found a smooth ride; waited 5 minutes; called the FAs; told them that I was going to keep the Seat belt sign on; but it should be ok for them to start moving in the galley; don't bring the carts out the aisle yet and see where this ride will go. Almost 5 minutes later we encountered moderate Turbulence for 5-10 seconds; then 30 Seconds of severe turbulence; followed by 1 minute of moderate turbulence; commanded the FAs to take their jumpseats over the PA. We were able to get a lower altitude of FL250; Aircraft (AC) was stable called the Purser to find out if everyone was alright. She explained that all the Passengers were down and ok; but that [a flight attendant] had injured his knee; wrist and bumped his head; and that [another flight attendant] hurt his Ribs and maybe back. I talked to them about deviating or to ask if there was; any medical personnel on board who could help evaluate them; we decided to continue on. They all agreed to continue; but to have EMTs meet the AC [at destination]; to help evaluate them; and see the extent of injury and go to clinic or hospital if necessary. Notified Dispatch with multiple messages; while notifying Dispatch of our situation and notifying [medical services] for us; while relaying the info; got messages from [Company] Flt. ops manger; [flight operations]; Ops manager in ORD; and [maintenance] about the Severe Turbulence; asking if I referenced the Quick reference Guide (QRG) yet for the Turbulence action guide. All the while sending multiple messages asking the names; file number then age of my FAs; info that is readily available to them; while we were managing the AC for the remainder of the flight. Because REMF at FL250 was showing about 3.2 thousand pounds. Not a very safe option. To many messages about info that they already had if they just took a moment to think about the messages I sent to dispatch. Also; trying to get better information from ATC as far as rides went was difficult; because each controller had a different story as far as rides and altitude. 10-15 later I made a PA to the Passengers about what happened and that the AC was fine and my FAs had been banged up a little; but we were going to continue on.Approximately 20-30 minutes later I talked to the FAs again to make sure they were alright; and explained to them what happened on our end and the messages sent. Then I asked if they were really ok; because I explained to them that they were running on adrenaline; and might not feel yet; but if things change please let us know. So we continued to MCO. P.S. Original flight had us at FL310 Climbing to FL350 through that area; with a Flight Plan REMF of 6;000 pounds.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.