Turbulence Injures 15 on Flight From L.A. : Aviation: Jetliner encounters wake from another plane. ‘Everybody went straight to the ceiling,’ one passenger says.

SAN FRANCISCO —  Fifteen people were injured Thursday when their United Airlines flight from Los Angeles encountered “wake turbulence” from another plane, officials said.

Shuttle Flight 2036 encountered the turbulence about 2:20 p.m., about 24,000 feet above Santa Barbara, United spokesman Joe Hopkins said. It was at least half an hour into the flight, and the seat belt light was not on, he said.

“Everybody went straight to the ceiling,” passenger Ronald Kalio said. “There was two stewardesses that spent the rest of the trip in the aisles. They were knocked out.”

The Boeing 737, with 107 passengers and a crew of five, continued to its destination at San Francisco International Airport and landed safely less than an hour later, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said.

“The aircraft encountered wake turbulence, which is the wake vortex from an aircraft that had flown in front of it. Now, that aircraft had flown at a safe distance, over 10 miles, but being a very calm day today, that turbulence hangs in the air,” airport spokesman Ron Wilson said.

Most of the injuries involved sprains and cuts, United spokesman Matt Triaca said Thursday night. Thirteen passengers and one flight attendant were treated at area hospitals and released. Another flight attendant was being kept overnight at a hospital with a head injury and was in stable condition, he said.

The two flight attendants suffered the worst injuries, Wilson said, adding that those who were hurt apparently were not belted in.

The FAA operations center had no immediate information on the location or identity of the other plane, said FAA spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn in Seattle.

Wilson said there was no visible damage to plane.

There was no reason to believe pilot error had anything to do with the injuries, Triaca said.

“We commend the pilots for acting as they’re trained to do and acting professionally and getting the plane on the ground in San Francisco,” he said.