Narrative:

Captain turned on seat belt sign; seatbelt PA was made. Captain made PA apologizing for bumpy ride that all altitudes were experiencing same ride and it would last approximately 15-20 minutes. Captain did not advise flight attendants to be seated and degree of turbulence did not merit halting service. A short time later flight attendants two and four had their cart in the aisle in the aft cabin and we; numbers one and three; were performing service in the first class aisle. We experienced sudden moderate to severe turbulence which caused the aft flight attendants to remove inserts from cart and sit on cabin floor. They later reported they both lifted off floor and had passengers holding onto them and helping hold their cart in place. As soon as they could they returned the cart to galley; secured it and took their jumpseats. Flight attendant three dropped to floor and held on and I; having two meal trays in my hands; braced my legs against the sides of passenger seats until I was able to return to the galley and both of us took our jumpseat. I called the captain and remarked that those were pretty severe jolts and he said they had received reports from aircraft ahead of us and that it seemed to be 'a one time event' that we should remain seated for 5 minutes and resume service when we felt conditions had improved. Numbers two and three called from aft galley to state they were concerned they had been injured and were both feeling varying degrees of pain. I advised cockpit and he said they would report it to dispatch. I had the injured flight attendants contact the captain to give him specifics and they made the determination they didn't think it was wise to work the flight back to base. They asked that flight service meet the flight and that they be replaced for return flight. A flight service supervisor met flight and took care of arrangements for the injured flight attendants. Mechanics were also on hand and I overheard them say the aircraft was being taken out of service. I also heard the captain remark that the event occurred without prior warning; which didn't seem to coincide with what he had told me earlier.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-800 encountered moderate to severe turbulence while Flight Attendants were serving passengers. At least three suffered minor injuries.

Narrative: Captain turned on seat belt sign; Seatbelt PA was made. Captain made PA apologizing for bumpy ride that all altitudes were experiencing same ride and it would last approximately 15-20 minutes. Captain did not advise flight attendants to be seated and degree of turbulence did not merit halting service. A short time later Flight Attendants two and four had their cart in the aisle in the aft cabin and we; numbers one and three; were performing service in the First Class aisle. We experienced sudden moderate to severe turbulence which caused the aft Flight Attendants to remove inserts from cart and sit on cabin floor. They later reported they both lifted off floor and had passengers holding onto them and helping hold their cart in place. As soon as they could they returned the cart to galley; secured it and took their jumpseats. Flight Attendant three dropped to floor and held on and I; having two meal trays in my hands; braced my legs against the sides of passenger seats until I was able to return to the galley and both of us took our jumpseat. I called the Captain and remarked that those were pretty severe jolts and he said they had received reports from aircraft ahead of us and that it seemed to be 'a one time event' that we should remain seated for 5 minutes and resume service when we felt conditions had improved. Numbers two and three called from aft galley to state they were concerned they had been injured and were both feeling varying degrees of pain. I advised cockpit and he said they would report it to Dispatch. I had the injured Flight Attendants contact the Captain to give him specifics and they made the determination they didn't think it was wise to work the flight back to base. They asked that flight service meet the flight and that they be replaced for return flight. A Flight Service Supervisor met flight and took care of arrangements for the injured Flight Attendants. Mechanics were also on hand and I overheard them say the aircraft was being taken out of service. I also heard the Captain remark that the event occurred without prior warning; which didn't seem to coincide with what he had told me earlier.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.