Sydney-bound Air Canada flight makes emergency landing in Honolulu, 35 injured

At least 35 people suffered minor injuries after an Air Canada flight made an emergency landing in Honolulu airport after the aircraft experienced "sudden and severe turbulence", the airline said on Thursday.

Air Canada Flight 33, which was on its way to Sydney after taking off from Vancouver, was airborne for two hours and crossing Hawaii when it encountered "unforecasted and sudden turbulence," CNN reported.

This forced the pilots to land the plane at Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.

"We just hit turbulence pretty quick. Lots of people hit the ceiling, lots of screaming," Michael Bailey, a passenger, said.

The flight had 269 passengers and 15 crew members onboard when the incident took place.

"The plane was flying at 36,000 feet and was approximately 600 miles (approx. 966 kilometres) south-west of Honolulu during the incident," a spokesperson of the Federal Aviation Administration Ian Gregor said.

Air Canada further said, "Our first priority is always the safety of our flights, passengers and crew and as a precaution, medical personnel are on standby to examine passengers in Honolulu.