Sudden turbulence on Air Canada flight to Australia launches people up to the ceiling, leaves dozens injured

Intense turbulence struck an Air Canada flight to Australia on Thursday and sent unbuckled passengers flying into the ceiling, forcing the plane to land in Hawaii.

The flight from Vancouver to Sydney encountered “un-forecast and sudden turbulence”, about two hours past Hawaii when the plane diverted to Honolulu, Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said in a statement.

“The plane just dropped,” passenger Stephanie Beam told Associated Press. “When we hit turbulence, I woke up and looked over to make sure my kids were buckled. The next thing I knew there’s just literally bodies on the ceiling of the plane.”

A woman behind her hit the ceiling so hard that she broke the casing of an oxygen mask, said Beam, of Colorado Springs, Colorado.