What happened
During a climb out at approximately 25,000 feet, an aircraft encountered moderate turbulence. At the time of the event, a flight attendant was standing in the aft galley preparing for cabin service and was injured during the turbulence.
The flight crew diverted the aircraft to the nearest airport to ensure the flight attendant could be transported to a hospital. Following this diversion, the flight departed 30 minutes later to continue to its original destination.
Prior to the initial departure, the captain had received a weather package indicating thunderstorm activity and cumulonimbus cloud buildup up to 33,000 feet along the planned route. During the climb, the crew visually identified these clouds and confirmed their presence using onboard weather radar. To avoid the primary storm cells, the flight crew requested and received air traffic control clearance to deviate to the right.
Findings
This deviation to the right of course placed the aircraft's path directly downwind of the cloud buildups, potentially exposing the flight to turbulent eddies. The moderate turbulence event occurred after the aircraft had diverted around a primary buildup and entered into a secondary buildup that was partially masked by the first cell.