Narrative:

Approximately 10-15 mins after takeoff we encountered severe turbulence between 27;000-30;000 ft. Duration was approximately 5 mins. It was the worst turbulence I have encountered in my 30 plus years of flying. Location was close to the shoreline; as our routing on departure from ZZZ had us flying north for a bit; before being turned east; to cross the water. There had been no other aircraft on our frequencies mentioning severe turbulence. There was no convective activity in the area; although very high winds on the ground and aloft; associated with a cold front. The seat belt sign was turned on; passengers were all seated. The flight attendants in the back had just gotten their carts out to begin their service. Severe turbulence began without warning. The fb had just gone back to business class to begin his break. Both ca and first officer had our hands full to maintain aircraft control. First officer was pilot flying. We disconnected auto pilot and auto throttles; and attempted to climb out of the turbulence. It took us longer than expected; due to previously mentioned lack of complete aircraft control. Airspeed loss was approximately 60 knots; from 310 down to 250 before airspeed decay was arrested and a climb to smooth air was accomplished. Once we leveled at 310 and were out of the turbulence and building airspeed; I took over ATC communications and the ca handled the cabin. The captain was informed of the cabin injuries and immediately [advised ATC] and directed a return to ZZZ. The fb remained in the cabin to help with the injured crew members. One woman had a head wound and the other; who was more seriously injured; had a flying full food service cart land on her. As soon as injured were as stable as possible; fb returned to cockpit to aid in our emergency return. We were all concerned that we might descend thru the turbulence area; so we flew south for 30 miles or so; before turning back west towards ZZZ. We were able to miss the turbulence on descent. We were going to be overweight by about 20;000 lbs; so we accomplished the over weight landing checklist. We radioed ops and had ambulances waiting for us at gate. We asked for; and received; clearance to straight in ILS to runway xxr. Weather was clear and wind was well within limits. Uneventful approach and landing on the long runway; with minimal brake usage; due to overweight condition. ZZZ ATC was outstanding through the entire event; enroute; approach and tower and ground at ZZZ.arrived at gate; passengers remained seated to allow emts to get to rear of aircraft. Injured crew safely removed and passengers allowed to deplane. Many frightened; scared passengers. Cabin crew was injured; very emotionally upset; but still performed their duties admirably. The three of us pilots were very keyed-up and over-loaded on adrenaline after what we had been through; and after a brief; closed door conference; the three of us decided that we were not mentally or physically fit for duty to fly an 8 hour flight across the atlantic into forecast heavy winds over in england; with possible missed approach and/or diversion. The captain handled the communication with crew tracking and the chief pilot. We then went down to operations and spent the next 30-45 minutes winding down and reviewing our flight. The longer we talked the more convinced I was that we were making a wise decision in not continuing that evening.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 flight crew reported encountering severe turbulence on climb out that resulted in injuries to several flight attendants.

Narrative: Approximately 10-15 mins after takeoff we encountered severe turbulence between 27;000-30;000 ft. Duration was approximately 5 mins. It was the worst turbulence I have encountered in my 30 plus years of flying. Location was close to the shoreline; as our routing on departure from ZZZ had us flying north for a bit; before being turned east; to cross the water. There had been no other aircraft on our frequencies mentioning severe turbulence. There was no convective activity in the area; although very high winds on the ground and aloft; associated with a cold front. The seat belt sign was turned on; passengers were all seated. The flight attendants in the back had just gotten their carts out to begin their service. Severe turbulence began without warning. The FB had just gone back to business class to begin his break. Both CA and FO had our hands full to maintain aircraft control. FO was pilot flying. We disconnected Auto Pilot and Auto Throttles; and attempted to climb out of the turbulence. It took us longer than expected; due to previously mentioned lack of complete aircraft control. Airspeed loss was approximately 60 knots; from 310 down to 250 before airspeed decay was arrested and a climb to smooth air was accomplished. Once we leveled at 310 and were out of the turbulence and building airspeed; I took over ATC communications and the CA handled the cabin. The Captain was informed of the cabin injuries and immediately [advised ATC] and directed a return to ZZZ. The FB remained in the cabin to help with the injured crew members. One woman had a head wound and the other; who was more seriously injured; had a flying full food service cart land on her. As soon as injured were as stable as possible; FB returned to cockpit to aid in our emergency return. We were all concerned that we might descend thru the turbulence area; so we flew south for 30 miles or so; before turning back west towards ZZZ. We were able to miss the turbulence on descent. We were going to be overweight by about 20;000 lbs; so we accomplished the Over Weight Landing checklist. We radioed ops and had ambulances waiting for us at gate. We asked for; and received; clearance to straight in ILS to Runway XXR. Weather was clear and wind was well within limits. Uneventful approach and landing on the long runway; with minimal brake usage; due to overweight condition. ZZZ ATC was outstanding through the entire event; enroute; approach and tower and ground at ZZZ.Arrived at gate; passengers remained seated to allow EMTs to get to rear of aircraft. Injured crew safely removed and passengers allowed to deplane. Many frightened; scared passengers. Cabin crew was injured; very emotionally upset; but still performed their duties admirably. The three of us pilots were very keyed-up and over-loaded on adrenaline after what we had been through; and after a brief; closed door conference; the three of us decided that we were not mentally or physically fit for duty to fly an 8 hour flight across the Atlantic into forecast heavy winds over in England; with possible missed approach and/or diversion. The Captain handled the communication with crew tracking and the chief pilot. We then went down to operations and spent the next 30-45 minutes winding down and reviewing our flight. The longer we talked the more convinced I was that we were making a wise decision in not continuing that evening.

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.