Six Passengers Injured on Air Canada Flight

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.

As many as 40 passengers were injured on an Air Canada Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto flight that made an emergency landing at Calgary on Thursday morning.

Media reports said as many as 15 passengers were "seriously injured" though officials at the Calgary airport were unable to confirm that number.

Jody Mosely, a spokeswoman for the Calgary Airport Authority said 88 people were on the flight, and emergency personnel were attending to the injured.