Airline turbulence takes on new meaning
The already troubled airlines hit another low point when at least 27 people were injured during turbulent conditions in two flights in less than a week. Is this a new airline problem?
Nathan Foster, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Louisville, said weather could have been a factor in latest incident.
Federal Aviation Administration officials also say the most recent incident could be simply a coincidence. Encounters with rough air injure more people on airline flights than any other cause outside of fatal crashes, according to the FAA.
The most recent injury involved a flight attendant and a passenger injured aboard a Northwest Airlines plane when it hit rough weather during a flight from Knoxville, Tenn., to Detroit. The plane was forced to land at Louisville International Airport. The injuries were described as not serious.
Earlier last week, 26 passengers were injured when turbulence rattled Continental Flight 128 over the Atlantic. The Boeing 767 was on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Houston and made an emergency landing in Miami.
Four passengers were seriously injured when the jetliner began to plunge and shake violently, hurling passengers over seatbacks and slamming them against luggage bins.
About eight serious turbulence accidents have happened each year since 1990, according to National Transportation Safety Board data.
by David Wilkening
David
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