Injuries on Northwest flight to Tokyo

At least 47 people on board the flight were injured due to severe turbulence.

Travel Insurance News - 23/02/2009

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The turbulence was encountered while the plane was circling over Chiba Prefecture waiting for permission to land at Tokyo’s Narita airport, officials reported.

According to a fire department spokesman and Narita airport officials, the injured passengers and members of the crew members were taken to local hospitals.

Japan’s Transport Safety Board sent three investigators to Narita airport to determine the cause of the incident.

The Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-400 had 408 passengers and 14 crew members on board, and was on route from Manila to Tokyo when it ran into the turbulence. It landed at Narita airport at around 12:20pm on Friday, said a Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry representative.

No emergency was declared by the pilot before the landing, and ministry officials said that air traffic control was not alerted about the turbulence or the injuries before the plane touched down.

A Northwest Airlines spokesperson said that the "fasten seatbelt" light was turned on at the time the plane encountered the turbulence.

Vincent Salazar, an American on board the flight, said that he heard other passengers screaming when the plane lost altitude during the incident, which occurred approximately 30 minutes prior to landing.

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