Date: 201708
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Weather elements / visibility: Turbulence
Aircraft: Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Aircraft component: Cabin Furnishing
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Other / Unknown
Reporter qualification: Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Detector: Person Maintenance
When detected: Routine Inspection
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure; Weather
Primary problem: Procedure

Narrative: Flight diverted to ZZZ for medical emergency [and] it was reported that the flight attendant fell when turbulence was encountered. The flight attendant and 2 passengers were transported to the hospital. The Dispatch Supervisor asked the Captain on a recorded phone line if the turbulence was severe and the Captain said No it was not severe. I picked up a roll over call from an open desk the Captain called and reported a broken armrest they were going to reposition the Aircraft to ZZZ1. After talking with the supervisor it was decided to defer the whole seat and have ZZZ1 Maintenance repair it when it arrived since there was going to be no passengers on the flight. When the flight arrived in ZZZ1 I had arranged for Maintenance to meet the flight and repair the armrest. The Captain called in and talked to another Maintenance Controller and told him on a recorded phone line that he did in fact have a severe turbulence event prior to diverting to ZZZ with the medical emergency. It was reported to us by the Line Mechanic in ZZZ1 that in the lav there was blue juice on the ceiling and walls also there was soda pop on the ceiling in the main cabin area. None of this was reported to us in ZZZ by the crew. From what was reported to Line Maintenance it sounds like the beverage cart went airborne hit the Flight Attendant and hit [a] seat causing the damage. ZZZ1 Maintenance took some pictures showing the extent of the damage seatback pockets were filled with soda cans and bottles of alcohol that were picked up off the floor by passengers.The Captain flat out lied on how bad the turbulence was. I don't know if deferring the whole seat was the right decision with it going to be a reposition flight and no passengers it was the easiest thing to do after discussing it with the Supervisor. If the Captain would have been honest about what happened we would have gone in a completely different direction.I trusted that the information that was given to me was correct and that the Captain was being honest on what happened. I don't know if I had asked the questions again if he would have given the same answers. I think the Crew did not want to get stuck in ZZZ.First and foremost if the Captain would have been honest in ZZZ and told us he had severe turbulence we could have handled the Inspection there.It is getting tougher to work shorthanded in Maintenance Control and try to cover more than 1 desk; if the same crew calls in more than once they can end up talking to multiple Controllers. Even though all the questions had been asked I should have asked them again.




Synopsis: A Maintenance Controller reported that he received a report that a Bombardier CRJ-700 had minor cabin damage due to turbulence; later it was found to have severe cabin damage.