16 plane passengers hurt in turbulence

[TallDutch]

SIXTEEN people were hurt, two of them seriously, when a KLM passenger jet hit turbulence soon after take-off from a western Japan airport today, a report said.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 867, bound for Amsterdam, flew into turbulence shortly after it departed from Kansai airport near Osaka and was forced to turn back, the airline said.

The airline and local officials said they did not have immediate information on any injuries.
But Kyodo News, quoting firefighters, said 16 people were hurt, two of them seriously.

The plane returned to Kansai airport after the incident, the Dutch airline said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21 ... public_rss (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21825290-38196,00.html?from=public_rss)

[AirtrafficController]

wow I didn't know heavy jets could experince that heavy turbulence

[PhilDernerJr]

Any plane can experience turbulence.

[AirtrafficController]

i understand but a heavy jet, was it wake turbulence or turbulence as in cold air sinks and warm air risses?

[PhilDernerJr]

Regular turbulence inthis case, but any plane of any size can experience wake turbulence as well.

[heeshung]

It always seems like most of the turbulence stories you hear about are from that area. One that comes readily to mine is the Air Canada 767 that had to turn back to Tokyo Narita a couple months ago also due to turbulence. I have been through the stretch of sea and land from Japan down to Taiwan or the Philippines multiple times, around the Ryukyu Islands, and it seems like every time I go, there's always some sort of turbulence in that area, sometimes heavy.

Are there specific weather patterns there that are responsible?

[RDU-JFK]

On Sunday when I was flying back from ICN to JFK we hit some moderate turbulence over...you guessed it...Japan. I had to pour some of my coffee into another cup to keep it from spilling all over the damn place.