(CNN) — Two passengers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a Houston-bound United Express flight operated by SkyWest met with severe turbulence and was forced to divert to Austin, Texas, officials said.

“We’re going to need a stretcher, and there is bleeding as well. SkyWest 5971,” a pilot said, according to air traffic control audio captured Thursday evening by LiveATC.net .

The flight was en route from Aspen, Colorado, with 39 passengers and four crew when the turbulence set in, the airline told CNN in a statement.

Some 90 minutes into its journey, the aircraft suddenly dropped about 4,000 feet in the span of a minute, flight data from FlightRadar 24 shows. It then altered course toward Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and began a rapid desce

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