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Air Canada Jet Makes Emergency Landing - Passengers Injured

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GG Staff | 01/10/2008 - 14:49 | 2 comments

Earlier today a turbulent flight gave Air Canada passengers more than they bargained for on a non-stop from Victoria to Toronto. The airbus made Cleared for LandingCleared for Landingan emergency landing in Calgary while 19 ambulances waited on the runway.

"The City of Calgary Emergency Medical Services has transported a total of 6 patients to area hospitals with stable but potentially life-threatening (injuries)," Stuart Brideaux of Calgary Emergency Medical Services told the Canadian Press.

Details are still sketchy, but officials say the plane encountered turbulence, which forced the landing. Passengers told reporters that those not buckled in or standing in the aisle were tossed around like toys.

"It happened very fast," a female passenger said at the airport. "One side of the plane just went up a little bit sideways and then just went back down. Our friend was really hurt. ... She flew up and hit the ceiling and went back down."

WestJet officials say the data reports show the altitude drop was about 20 meters, but passengers say it felt like hundreds.

A flight I took to Chicago last fall encountered turbulence. Our flight attendant told us to buckle up and offered to take my co-worker's coffee, explaining the next few miles would be choppy. Neither of us knew what a few miles meant in airplane terms.

Until we hit the turbulence a minute or so later and his coffee flew into the air and smashed into the overhead compartment.

I grabbed him at the same time he reached for me. We sat holding hands for the next half hour, getting to know each other very well.

We'd only been co-workers for about a week.

Do you worry about turbulence before flying?

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Comments

One passenger, Jayne Harvey,

Submitted by Julia Rosien on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 17:10.
One passenger, Jayne Harvey, said the pilots came on the intercom and announced that they were flying the plane manually to bring it under control. From the reports, it looks like the whole thing was over in 10-15 seconds and it hasn't been confirmed if any crew members were injured.

Any news on if there was

Submitted by Jen (not verified) on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 16:02.
Any news on if there was time for the seatbelt light to go on?

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