Turbulence kills jet passenger

A woman was killed and 110 other passengers injured last night when a jumbo jet carrying 393 people hit freak turbulence 30,000ft over the Pacific.

People with broken bones and bloodied faces told how they were thrown around the aircraft while food trolleys hit the ceiling before crashing on to passengers.

United Airlines Flight 826 left Tokyo International Airportat 9.05pm and was two hours into its journey to Honolulu when it dropped about 1,000ft.Passengers not wearing belts felt their seats fall from beneath them and crashed into overhead compartments.

The woman who was killed was Konomi Kataura, 32, a Japanese. The Boeing 747 returned safely to Narita, where a fleet of ambulances was waiting to take the injured to hospital. Nine flight crew and 54 passengers were detained for treatment.