Air Canada Flight 190

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**Air Canada Flight 190**
Summary
Date	January 10, 2008
Type	Severe Turbulence
Site	Over the Rocky Mountains near Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada.
Passengers	83
Crew	5
Injuries	10 (6 serious)
Fatalities	0
Survivors	88 (all)
Aircraft type	Airbus A319
Operator	Air Canada
Tail number	C-GBHZ
Flight origin	Victoria International Airport, British Columbia, Canada
Destination	Toronto Pearson International Airport, Ontario, Canada

Air Canada Flight 190 was a scheduled flight from Victoria International Airport, British Columbia, Canada, to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Ontario, Canada on Thursday, January 10, 2008. The plane was an Airbus A319. It was forced to make an emergency landing in Calgary International Airport, Alberta due to severe turbulence.^[1]

1 Beginning
2 Incident
3 Aftermath
4 References

[edit] Beginning

At around 6:21 a.m. PST (14:21Z), Flight 190 departed Victoria, British Columbia. At around 8:00 a.m. MST (15:00Z) the plane was flying over the Rocky Mountains, in northern Washington, south of Cranbrook, British Columbia when the incident occurred.^[2]

[edit] Incident

Passengers reported a number of altitude changes before a 15-second occurrence that saw the plane violently shift, sending passengers and crew flying around the Airbus.^[3] The pilot reported to the passengers that the computer failed. The pilot made an emergency call to the air traffic controller (ATC), asking for clearance to make an emergency landing at Calgary International Airport. The plane then proceeded to make a safe landing in Calgary around 8:30 am (MT).^[1]

An online flight path indicated that the plane appeared to change course south of Grand Forks.^[4] Air Canada has not confirmed the cause for the flight's diversion and will be conducting a full internal investigation.^[4]

FlightAware, which tracks commercial flights, reported radar showed the aircraft bouncing up and down between various altitudes starting about 20 minutes after takeoff, believed to be an attempt to evade turbulence.^[5]

[edit] Aftermath

Emergency crews were on the scene preparing for the worst. Twenty-two Calgary fire trucks and more than ten ambulance units were at the plane's landing.^[5] Ten people were taken to three different hospitals with minor injuries.^[4] The injured passengers and crew were taken to waiting ambulances to be checked out at local hospitals. Uninjured passengers were taken through the airport to take other flights to Toronto.^[6] Later the same day, all injured passengers and crew were released from the hospitals.^[7]

Air Canada has not confirmed the cause for the flight's diversion. A spokesman said the airline will be doing a full internal investigation.

As is typical in the immediate aftermath of any aviation incident, there has been speculation as to the cause, including:

Dis-engagement of the autopilot caused by "computer failure"
Clear-Air Turbulence (CAT) caused by the movement of the jet stream over the Rocky Mountains, followed by dis-engagement of the autopilot when the aircraft's movements were out of the range that the autopilot can handle,
A specific type of airflow called Lee Wave or Mountain Wave, followed by dis-engagement of the autopilot when the aircraft's movements were out of the range that the autopilot can handle,
Wake turbulence from another aircraft ahead and higher than AC190, followed by dis-engagement of the autopilot when the aircraft's movements were out of the range that the autopilot can handle.^[8]