"At least 95 passengers of the Hong Kong Airlines plane who survived the turbulence incident have been flown to Hong Kong at 9.35 am Central Indonesia Standard Time (Wita), but the rest have still been given the facility to stay at a hotel to wait for the next scheduled departure,"Ngurah Rai Airport management company PT Angkasa Pura I spokesperson Sherly Yuanita remarked Saturday.
The severe turbulence on the Hong Kong Airlines flight to Hong Kong over the sky of Kalimantan Island left 17 passengers injured early Saturday morning.
The ill-fated Hong Kong Airlines plane with 204 passengers and 12 crew members on board took off from Ngurah Rai airport at 1.05 am Wita and was expected to arrive in Hong Kong at 7.05 am local time but the severe turbulence forced it to "return to base."
Trikora Harjo, the general manager of PT Angkasa Pura-I remarked that the pilot, Tinios Peter decided to return to Denpasar and landed safely at the airport at 4.28 am Wita.
"The 12 injured passengers were sent to a hospital in Denpasar soon after the plane landed safely at the Ngurah Rai airport," he said.
Turbulence, the most common cause of injury to air passengers, is what nervous fliers fear the most when they board an aircraft.
Pilots will always keep their seat-belts fastened while seated on an aircraft and will usually advise the passengers to do the same.
Many different things may cause turbulence, but each and every one of them is known and understood by pilots.
Turbulence is uncomfortable but not dangerous. It is part of flying, and is not to be feared as different aspects of the weather cause different types of turbulence.
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
