New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- The severe turbulence that struck an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi on Tuesday lasted four to five minutes, injuring 17 people on board, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Wednesday.

"Yesterday when I met them in the hospital, I tried to interact with them and ask them. So they all kind of remember that there was turbulence which was observed in the flight for some time.probably for four to five minutes. And it is during that time that they faced a certain difficulty inside the plane," Naidu said.

"In terms of the injuries of the crew members, a couple of them have a spinal injury near the tailbone and also near the neck. So the doctors are under continuous surveillance on them. And they have adv...