CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - An Air Canada flight carrying 284 passengers to Sydney encountered severe turbulence mid air, and was forced to make an emergency landing.
At least 37 people were injured in the incident.
Air Canada's Boeing 777-200, which took off from the Canadian city of Vancouver Thursday, was flying over the Pacific Ocean when the aircraft encountered turbulence.
The crew decided to turn around and divert to Honolulu, where the aircraft landed safely, reported Aviation Herald, which monitors aviation incidents.
Air Canada said the jet plane 'encountered sudden clear air turbulence' about 2 hours after passing above the air space of Honolulu.
The passengers were taken to hotels in Honolulu for them to be boarded on another Air Canada aircraft.
Media reports quoting officials said 30 passengers were taken to hospital in Honolulu, including nine with severe injuries.
Air Canada, which was voted best airline in North America by Skytrax, said the injuries were minor.
Members of the Australian country band Hurricane Fall were also aboard the flight, and their singer Pepper suffered minor injuries, the band said on Facebook.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX