We all assume flying is as safe as anything and with low cost airlines making air travel all the more accessible and affordable, we are all becoming somewhat seasoned travellers.

Realistically, we should be pretty comfortable hurtling through the skies in these metal tubes because generally, there are some very highly skilled folks operating the machinery and some very sophisticated systems tracking your progress.

However, weather is unpredictable and sometimes turbulence is unavoidable. We aren’t talking a small stomach jolt here, we are talking some serious body-bouncing turbulence. It really makes you realise how powerful nature is!

This is what happened when flight SA286 on its way from SA to Hong Kong when it hit some turbulence.

Twelve men and 13 women were injured, police said, with two men seriously hurt. Details of their injuries were not immediately known.

South African Airways could not immediately comment when contacted by AFP but an online flight tracking system said the plane was a four-engined Airbus A340-300.

Authorities could not confirm the total number of passengers on board.[…]

Brian Heuer, who was on flight SA286 with his wife, told  South China Morning Post  that many passengers were asleep when the plane hit the turbulence as it passed over Singapore, adding: “‘Most of the injured hit their heads on the roof of the cabin.”

This must have been some SERIOUS turbulence to cause passengers to hit their head on the ceiling. This is why they say you should keep your seatbelt fastened at all times. Thank goodness they pilots had the skill to fly through the rough patch and land smoothly.

Full story at Times Live.