Originally published on March 17, 2014
A flight from Canada to Mexico made an emergency landing in Western Montana on Sunday (March 16) after encountering extreme turbulence.
According to NBC News, the Sunwing flight 559 was carrying 181 passengers and six crew members aboard. The Boeing 737 was en route from Edmonton, Canada, to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, but landed at Helena Regional Airport at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.
After 60 minutes into the flight, the plane encountered 45 seconds of moderate turbulence followed by 45 seconds of severe turbulence, NBC News reported. Two flight attendants suffered minor injures from the turbulence.
The passengers on the flight were forced to wait inside the plane for up to five hours until a U.S. customs agent arrived to give them clearance to enter the airport. They then continued their journey after a replacement plane arrived in the afternoon.
