Continental Boeing 767-200 much like the one involved in this incident.

Continental airlines flight 128 from Brazil to Texas hit a bad patch of turbulence, injuring over 30 passengers. The Boeing 767 was about six hours into its flight when all of a sudden the aircraft lost altitude. Passenger Fabio Ottolini stated, “People didn’t have time to do anything.” He stated that flight attendants were in the middle of service when the incident occurred, causing some to hit the ceiling. The aircraft landed in Miami where 13 people were taken to local hospitals and four were seriously injured.

 This is reminder that everyone should keep their seatbelts on while in flight. Yes, it is very tempting to take the belt off, but it is never worth the risk.  The Science Christian Monitor reports that from 1980 to June 2004, airlines in the United States had 198 turbulence accidents, resulting in 266 serious injuries and three fatalities. The three fatalities resulted in passengers not wearing their seatbelt, while the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated.

For updates on this story, check out Ben Mutzabaugh’s blog, Today in the Sky.