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Turbulent landing for China flight
As many as 27 people, including passengers and flight crew, on-board a China Airlines Boeing 747-400 were injured when the aircraft hit turbulence over the Makassar straight on Saturday afternoon
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As many as 27 people, including passengers and flight crew, on-board a China Airlines Boeing 747-400 were injured when the aircraft hit turbulence over the Makassar straight on Saturday afternoon.
The plane, carrying 338 passengers, was en route to Denpasar from Taiwan when it entered a pocket of severe atmospheric instability, an official said.
The pilot managed to navigate the plane out of the difficult air currents and land the plane safely at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The injured passengers were immediately taken to nearby hospitals, including the island's biggest medical emergency facility in Sanglah, some 15 kilometers north of the airport.
Mohammad Dimyati, spokesman for the airport's operator Angkasa Pura I, said the airport had been informed of the incident minutes after it had occurred. The airport's air traffic controllers then asked the plane's pilot whether special assistance was required.
The pilot responded that some passengers were injured and would need emergency medical assistance.
"Fortunately, the aircraft managed to land safely without suffering any damage, therefore we focused on providing medical assistance to the injured passengers," he told reporters Saturday.
He said the aircraft was ready to be used again. However, he said several members of the cabin crew remained hospitalized.
The injured passengers, most of whom are from mainland Taiwan and China, were being treated at several hospitals in Badung and Denpasar.
Indonesian passenger Dwi Hartati received treatment for minor injuries at a hospital near the airport.
The seriously injured were brought to Sanglah General Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU).
As of Saturday evening, as many as eight seriously injured people had been brought to the ICU. Most suffered multiple broken legs, wrists and vertebrae.
The seriously injured were identified as Cheng Yung Mei, Huang Yu Te, Jason Lao, Sarah Lin, Hsu Shih Chin, Huang Hui Min, Jong Dee, Chang Yi Cheh.
Chang Yi Cheh, one of the injured stewardesses, said it had been impossible to fight the turbulence, which left her with a swollen right leg.
"It was turbulence and it was so hard," Cheh said, clearly in pain.
The management of Sanglah General Hospital was not available for comment.
Lt. Col. Omar Faturohman, Commander of Ngurah Rai Military Air Base, who scrambled his men to assist the passengers, said he had asked several injured cabin crew members whether they had been wearing seat belts during the turbulence.
He said the crew members had put on their seat belts upon being warned of imminent turbulence by the pilots.
"As a pilot myself, I can't imagine how hard the turbulence was as it was able to throw someone who had put his seat belt on properly," he said.
"It is lucky that the aircraft was not affected by the turbulence."
Ngurah Rai's air traffic controllers issued a warning to all airliners flying over the Makassar Strait to take necessary precautions to avoid similar incident.
