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ALBERTA - Half a dozen passengers were badly injured after an Air Canada plane bucked in midair on a flight across Canada, probably because of heavy turbulence.
A spokesman for Calgary Emergency Medical Services said a number of passengers had been taken off the plane in stretchers with head and spinal injuries. They were in stable condition despite "potentially life threatening" injuries.
One passenger said the bumps had been over in seconds.
"It happened very fast," a female passenger in the plane's front cabin told CBC Television.
"One side of the plane just went up a little bit sideways and then it just sort of went back down. And our friend was really hurt ... she flew up and hit the ceiling and (came) right back down."
Early media reports had said that up to 40 passengers were hurt, 15 of them seriously.
The Airbus A319 was on a flight from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto when the incident took place.
The aeroplane made a safe emergency landing in Calgary, Alberta, coming to rest on the tarmac, surrounded by emergency service vehicles.
Canada's largest airline, confirmed there had been "an incident" aboard the flight, but a spokesman could not comment on the cause, nor provide details on the injuries.
Air Canada stock fell almost 3 per cent to $C11.18 ($14.60) on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The airline said its preliminary passenger list indicated the plane carried 83 passengers and five crew members, though Calgary EMS said there were 91 people on board the aircraft, which has a capacity of 120.
- REUTERS
