26 Injured On Continental Flight From Rio To Houston

The NTSB is looking into whether to treat an encounter with clear air turbulence as an accident. A Continental flight en route to Houston from Rio de Janeiro Monday encountered CAT near the east end of the Dominican Republic, and 26 passengers were injured as a result.

Bloomberg is reporting that some of the 168 passengers were tossed from their seats during the flight. NTSB is still making a determination as to whether the incident qualifies as an aircraft accident. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said in an interview Tuesday "We’re still assessing the injuries and gathering information. We are getting data from the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.” If it is determined that there actually was an accident, the agency will open a formal inquiry, he said, with a decision to be made “within the next few days."

An NTSB report issued in March indicates that 22 percent of all airline accidents can be attributed to turbulence, according to Bloomberg. It is cited in 49 percent of accidents resulting in serious injuries.

The aircraft, a Boeing 767-200, was diverted to Miami following the incident.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.continental.com