China News Agency, Los Angeles, December 18th. On the morning of December 18th local time, a Hawaiian Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence, causing at least 36 people to be injured, 11 of whom were seriously injured.
Based on the social media statement of Hawaiian Airlines and news from American media such as CNN, the HA35 flight took off from Phoenix and headed for Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii.
The Airbus A330 aircraft was full, carrying 278 passengers and 10 crew members.
The FAA said the flight reported experiencing severe turbulence at around 10:35 a.m. local time on the 18th.
The accident occurred about 30 minutes before the plane landed.
Hawaiian Airlines officials said it was an extremely rare case of turbulence when the seat belt warning light was on.
Another passenger said that the turbulence appeared suddenly without warning, and some people had just sat back in their seats and before they had time to fasten their seat belts, they were ejected and hit the roof of the cabin.
At around 10:50 am that day, the flight landed at Honolulu International Airport.
Local emergency medical service personnel arrived later.
At least 36 people on board were injured, including three flight attendants.
The slightly injured were treated at the airport, and 20 people were sent to the emergency room of a local hospital for further treatment, 11 of whom were seriously injured.
The youngest of the injured was 14 months old.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the accident.
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