Dozens of people have been injured after turbulence caused by Tropical Storm Kong-rey affected flights into Hong Kong.
Thai Airways said 39 people were hurt when an Airbus A380 carrying 500 passengers from Bangkok to the Chinese city encountered the turbulence on Friday morning.
Kenny Kung, the airline's sales manager, says both passengers and crew members suffered slight injuries as the plane was coming into land, adding that those hurt were sent to three hospitals in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines, a local carrier, said three passengers and three flight attendants had been hurt when a flight from Phuket hit "sudden turbulence" as it neared the airport. The airline said the plane landed safely and the six injured people have since left hospital. Its plane was carrying 110 passengers and seven crew.
Hong Kong has been experiencing unsettled weather as Tropical Storm Kong-rey passes nearby.
Turbulence is the most common cause of injury to air passengers around the world, although extreme turbulence is relatively rare.
Steve Allright, a British Airways pilot, spoke to Telegraph Travel about the issue earlier this year.
"Flight crews around the world share a common classification of turbulence: light, moderate and severe," he said. "Severe turbulence is extremely rare. In a flying career of over 10,000 hours, I have experienced severe turbulence for about five minutes in total. It is extremely uncomfortable but not dangerous. The aircraft may be deviating in altitude by up to 100 feet (30 metres) or so, up as well as down, but nothing like the thousands of feet you hear some people talking about when it comes to turbulence."
Edited by Oliver Smith for Telegraph.co.uk
