A Continental Airlines plane experienced turbulence in clear skies Monday,leaving 26 injured, before being diverted to Miami, according to the AssociatedPress.The flight was originally scheduled to fly from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, toHouston, when the plane reported hitting severe turbulence around 4:30 a.m.

local time about 50 miles north of the Dominican Republic, flying at about38,000 feet, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Boeing 767 carrying 168 passengers was diverted and safely landed at MiamiInternational Airport an hour later.

It appears that there were no thunderstorms in the area at the time of theincident.

Turbulence, simply stated, is the irregular, apparently random motions of afluid such as water or the air, and it can occur in perfectly clear air withoutany visual clues from clouds. It often found in the vicinity of the jet stream,near mountains or in areas of large wind shear.

In the case of the turbulence impacting the plane on Monday, the motion of airthat caused the scary scene to unfold was likely caused by strong wind shear inthe atmosphere, which means that there were variations in wind direction orwind speed with height.