(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-11 09:41

An aerial view of the Calgary airport is seen in an undated file photo. An Air Canada plane made an emergency landing at Calgary airport on Thursday after at least 14 passengers were injured, probably because of mid-air turbulence. [Agencies]

"None of the patients received any life-threatening injuries. Most of the injuries are the soft tissue, orthopedic, minor type," Rob Abernethy, Calgary's associate chief medical officer, told reporters outside one of three hospitals where the injured were sent.

"These are mostly musculoskeletal injuries one would normally see if someone was bounced around or having fallen," he said.

Air Canada, the country's largest airline, confirmed there had been "an incident" aboard the flight, but officials would not comment on the cause.

Air Canada Vice-President Duncan Dee told reporters in Ottawa that the airline will co-operate with a federal investigation into the incident and conduct its own review.

Turbulence is a frequent cause of injuries for airline passengers. Nine people were hurt in September when a WestJet Airlines flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, from Calgary hit a rough spot about 40 minutes before landing.

In August, 18 passengers on an Air Mauritius flight to Hong Kong were injured after the Airbus A343 encountered turbulence.

Air Canada's class B shares fell 11 Canadian cents to C$11.43 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

 

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