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

Of the 25 passengers wearing seat belts who were injured, six stated that their beltswere loosely fastened. One of these passengers reported a neck/back injury whenshe was thrown back into her seat as the aircraft stabilised, and she believed that theloose seat belt contributed to the injury. For the other five passengers, it did notappear that a loose seat belt contributed to the injuries. Three of these passengerswere injured because they were hit by other people or objects, and one hit anarmrest when reaching for another passenger. The other passenger received ashoulder injury but the injury mechanism was not known.For the child who received abdominal contusions, the child’s parent reported thatthe seat belt was firmly fastened.4.6.7 Other injured passengersAs previously mentioned, six passengers reported that they were wearing their seatbelts but were not restrained in their seats. All of these passengers were injured as aresult of impacting parts of the aircraft, and at least four hit overhead fittings. Threereceived hospital medical treatment. Most of these six passengers received multipleinjuries, and the primary injury types were neck or back injury (three), head injury(one), arm injury (one), and leg injury (one). Four of these passengers were locatedin the centre section and two in the rear section.Eight other passengers were injured, but their posture and seat belt use was notreported. Seven received hospital medical treatment but none were admitted tohospital. The primary injury types were spinal injury (one passenger), neck or backinjury (three), and head injury (four). One of these passengers was reported to havehit overhead fittings, and there was damage to the overhead fittings above theassigned seats of that and another passenger. The injury mechanism for the otherswas not reported. Four of these eight passengers were located in the centre sectionand four in the rear section.4.6.8 Injuries by location in the aircraftTable 33 provides data on the injury levels for each section of the aircraft. Crewmembers in the front galley were included in the front section.Table 33: Injury levels for each section of the aircraftInjury level Front Centre Rear TotalSerious (hospital admission) 0 7 5 12Hospital treatment (not admitted) 1 25 15 41Other minor injuries 9 29 28 66Total injuries 10 61 48 119Not injured 17 28 16 61Unknown 12 65 58 135Total occupants 39 154 122 315Hospital treatment rate 3% 21% 16% 17%Total injury rate 26% 40% 39% 38%- 180 -