In-flight upset - 154 km west of Learmonth, WA, 7 October 2008,

fastened’ and 13 said they were ‘loosely fastened’. The information was notavailable for the other 18 passengers who wore seat belts.Reliable information on posture and seat belt use was not available for139 passengers. However, information from several sources suggested that therewere more than 60 passengers seated without their belts fastened. More specifically:• Six passengers reported to the ATSB that they were seated with their seat beltsfastened at the time of the first upset, but that the belt became unfastened anddid not restrain them in their seats. As there was some doubt regarding whetheror not their belts were fastened (Appendix J), these passengers were notincluded in the totals discussed above.• Eight passengers were known to be injured but information on their posture andseat belt use was not provided. The injuries received by these passengers wereconsistent with not wearing a belt or with not being seated (section 4.6.7).• Although most of the damage to the fittings above passenger seats wasconsistent with the information obtained from passengers and crew members,there was damage above two seats in the centre section and eight seats in therear section that was not able to be accounted for by the information provided(section 4.6.9).Although more than 60 passengers were likely to have been seated without theirseat belts fastened, the overall seat belt use rate was likely to have been higher than57%. The investigation’s processes for obtaining passenger information focused tosome extent on identifying the passengers not wearing seat belts. 1924.6 Injuries4.6.1 Injury levelsThe Western Australia Department of Health reported that 51 passengers and twocrew members received medical treatment at a hospital, either in Learmonth or inPerth. Eleven of these passengers and one of the flight attendants were admitted tohospital. Injury information was also obtained from the passenger questionnaire, aswell as from interviews and correspondence with the passengers and crew.Based on the available information, nine of the 12 crew members and 110 of the303 passengers were known to be injured. Three of the crew members and58 passengers were known to have not been injured. The injury statistics aresummarised in Table 31.192For example, the questionnaire asked passengers to provide information on passengers near themwho were not wearing their seat belts, but did not specifically ask about other passengers wearingseat belts. In addition, the investigation attempted to contact all passengers who had receivedhospital medical treatment and who had not completed the passenger questionnaire; most of thosecontacted were seated without their seat belts fastened.- 176 -