AT LEAST 26 passengers and crew were injured when an American Airlines Airbus A300-600R hit clear-air turbulence (CAT) en route from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 19 July. On 25 June, a Continental Airlines A300 en route to San Juan hit CAT, which injured 20 passengers and crew.
The American A300, at 33,000ft (10,000m) over the Caribbean when it encountered turbulence, was flown back to Miami. Other US CAT incidents this year include an American McDonnell Douglas DC-10 en route from Los Angeles to New York on 26 June; and a United Airlines Boeing 767 en route from New York to San Francisco on 20 June. Four people were injured in a Delta Airlines Boeing 727-200 over Georgia on 16 March.
The US Federal Aviation Administration advised passengers in early July to wear seat belts. The seat-belt lights were on when the American A300 hit turbulence.
Source: Flight International
