Continental Airlines jet hit heavy turbulence over Bermuda's skies.

Passengers were jolted out of their seats, crashing their heads on the plane's ceiling, as the aircraft soared through the air at 500mph.

And to make matters worse, flight attendants were so caught by surprise by the vicious jolt they could not help the passengers, which included screaming children and babies.

Bloodied, battered and bruised: that was the case for most passengers of the Continental Airlines flight 743 from Newark, New Jersey to San Juan, Puerto Rico yesterday evening.

And there was only a great deal of relief expressed from the passengers after the plane landed safely in Bermuda. Among those passengers was an eight-year-old boy who had a cart slam down on him.

All four flight attendants together with several passengers had to be treated at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital when the plane landed shortly after 4 p.m. in Bermuda.

Official reports from Bermuda Police said that 152 people were on board when the plane encountered turbulence about 180 miles SSW of the Island.

Passengers said the incident happened about two hours into the flight. "The pilot had just gone through some turbulence and turned the fasten seatbelt sign off,'' said Miguel Vargas, an employee of Continental on the plane.

"But then a few minutes later we encountered some more turbulence which he did not see. The flight attendants were picking up people's trays when we hit the pocket.

"Trays went flying, people went flying and a cart actually hit the ceiling then came crashing down on a young boy.'' said Mr. Vargas. "The boy was about eight-years-old and luckily he was not hurt very badly from that.'' "One minute we were flying smoothly and in the next I saw people flying (though the air).'' said Diana Munoz adding, "one woman passed out completely and there was blood everywhere -- a lot of blood.'' Ms Munoz and Mr. Vargas, both helped attend to the wounded on the flight and also once everyone was inside the Bermuda International Airport.

Many people suffered head and neck injuries, they said. "There was one girl who flew right up to the ceiling and hit her head and part of the fixture came off,'' said Mr. Vargas.

His brother Joel, described the terrifying incident. "First we went up and down and then it was like we did an `S' shape in the air. I saw a guy flip 360 degrees -- man it was incredible -- he flipped right over!'' There were also several children on the flight. Patricia Muniz was taking her eight-month-old daughter Stephanie to meet her relatives in Puerto Rico for the first time. She said her daughter was upset by the turbulence. "She immediately started screaming and crying, it was scary,'' she said.

Abimael Delacruz, an eight-year-old boy claimed he was not scared. "I wasn't scared when it happened -- it was like a roller coaster ride,'' he said.

Parmra Delacruz, Abimael's mother had a huge bump on her forehead and said the incident was "frightening but it only lasted for a short while, maybe a minute or two''.

"I didn't have my seatbelt on because the lady sitting next to me had a small baby and asked me to help her put something in the baby's bag,'' she said, adding "but as I bent down, that's when it hit.'' Two of the passengers, both women, were detained in hospital overnight, although there condition was not known when The Royal Gazette went to press.

The remaining passengers and crew stayed at the Marriott Castle Harbour hotel.

Another flight with crew is expected to come around noon today to transport the passengers to San Juan. Continental Airlines have set up a information line 239-2009.