Face of Nation : An Air Canada plane on a flight from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia, after travelling from Toronto, encountered sudden and severe turbulence Thursday, leaving more than three dozen people with injuries, the airline said.
Flight AC33 was diverted to Honolulu’s international airport around 6:46 a.m. local time, where medical staff were on standby to examine the injured.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said 35 people sustained minor injuries. That number was later updated to 37 by emergency officials in Honolulu. They told reporters 30 people were transported to local hospitals, nine with serious injuries and 21 with minor injuries. Those people have since been treated and released, according to Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah.The remaining seven decided against being transported to hospital.
There were neck and back injuries, head injuries, and lacerations, officials said, adding that those affected range in age from children to the elderly.
The Boeing 777-200 was carrying 269 passengers and 15 crew and was about two hours past Hawaii when it hit “severe clear air” turbulence, Fitzpatrick said.Passenger Jess Smith spoke to local TV station KHON as she exited the plane. She said she was jolted awake.
“We hit turbulence and we all hit the roof, and everything fell down … people went flying,” she said.Fais Asad, who was awake on the plane, said he was “quite terrified” after the aircraft suddenly dropped.
“It was like a second, but it was enough to see everybody jump. Some people that weren’t strapped in, you saw them rise in the air and hit their heads on the roof and everything, so it was quite intense,” he told KHON.
Passenger Stephanie Beam of Colorado Springs, Colo., told The Associated Press a woman behind her hit the ceiling so hard that she broke the casing of an oxygen mask.
The turbulence happened at 10,973 metres (36,000 feet) about 966 kilometres southwest of Honolulu, said U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Ian Gregor.
Flight attendants were handing out snacks when it began with mild turbulence, said Alex Macdonald, a passenger from Brisbane, Australia.
