At least 10 people were injured Thursday on a turbulent Air Canada flight that made an emergency landing in Calgary on its way from Victoria to Toronto.
The Airbus A319 landed safely at Calgary Airport around 8:30 a.m. local time.
Emergency crews were on scene to care for the injured.
"The City of Calgary Emergency Medical Services has transported a total of six patients to area hospitals with stable but potentially life-threatening (injuries),'' said Stuart Brideaux of Calgary Emergency Medical Services.
Brideaux said three more passengers on Flight AC190 suffered minor injuries.
In total, 83 passengers and five crew members were on board the flight.
Dr. Rob Abernethy, the Calgary Health Region's executive medical director, told reporters that the injuries were mostly of a muscular or skeletal nature. "They are mostly muscular, skeletal injuries that one would normally see if one was bounced around, having falls, that type of thing," he said. Citing confidentiality issues, Abernethy said he could not reveal whether those injured were passengers or from the aircraft's flight crew. "One (patient) is in the process of being released from what I understand, I can't tell you from which facility, and the others are just going through their final assessments," he said. Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick would not confirm reports that the injuries were caused by flight turbulence. "It's going to take a bit of time to determine exactly what happened, I would encourage people to refrain from speculation," Fitzpatrick told CTV Newsnet. "At this point we're dealing with our passengers and our crew and their families to make sure they're taken care of." Two passengers, a male and a female, told reporters they were travelling in first class and their friend was hurt in the ordeal. "It happened very fast," said the woman. "One side of the plane just went up a little sideways and then it just sort of went back down. "Our friend was really hurt, so we really want to get to her. ... She flew up and hit the ceiling and right back down.'' When asked if it was because of turbulence, the male passenger said he wasn't sure. "We don't know, it was 15 seconds and then it was gone," he said. Meanwhile, an Air Canada Jazz flight between Halifax and Fredericton was forced to make an emergency landing at Stanfield International Airport on Wednesday evening. The plane, which was experiencing mechanical problems, landed safely without incident. Relatives of passengers on the Calgary flight can call 1-800-961-7099 for more information.
