At least 37 passengers on an Air Canada flight have been injured after their plane hit severe turbulence flying at 36,000 feet.
Some 284 passengers and crew were travelling on the flight from Vancouver to Sydney when it encountered the sudden turbulence, which led to passengers hitting the overhead baggage compartments and landing violently back in their seats.
The flight was diverted to Hawaii, where 30 people had to be taken to hospital, 9 of whom had severe injuries.
We're rated‘Excellent’Speaking to TV station KHON in Honolulu, passenger Jess Smith said, “We all hit the roof and everything fell down. People went flying."
Fellow passenger Stephanie Beam told the Associated Press, “The plane just dropped. We hit turbulence, I woke up and looked over to make sure my kids were buckled. The next thing I knew there’s just literally bodies on the ceiling of the plane."
She added that a woman sat behind her hit the ceiling so hard that she broke the casing of an oxygen mask.
Air Canada later confirmed that all the injured passengers have been assessed, treated and discharged from hospital, with all those affected now being accommodated in local hotels. They will then be flown to Sydney later today (July 12th).
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