MIAMI (Reuters) – A Continental Airlines Inc plane hit severe turbulence en route from Rio de Janeiro to Houston yesterday and was diverted to Miami, where more than two dozen passengers were treated for injuries.
Continental Flight 128 had 168 people aboard, including 11 crew members, a Miami International Airport spokesman said.
Paramedics treated 26 injured passengers and sent 14 of them to hospitals for further treatment, Miami-Dade fire rescue spokesman Elkin Sierra said.
Four had serious injuries, he said.
“This could have been serious injury directly from the trauma or serious medical condition exacerbated by this scary event,” Sierra said. The remaining passengers were being rerouted to Houston on Monday, Miami airport spokesman Marc Henderson said. In June, an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic, killing all 228 people aboard.
