KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA -Three crew members on an AirAsia flight were injured when their plane hit turbulence on its flight from Kuala Lumpur.

Flight AK5100 was forced to divert to Kuching to enable medical treatment for the crew.

A businessman who was among the passengers stranded in Kuching airport said two crew members were taken by stretcher out of the plane.

He and the other passengers waited at the airport for a replacement cabin crew.

The Sabah businessman, who declined to be named, said the plane took off from the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang at 1pm.

The turbulence occurred about an hour later and the plane was diverted to Kuching at about 3pm.

AirAsia CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes confirmed that the Airbus 300 aircraft had to be diverted.

'They were serving food when the turbulence hit,'' he said.

However, he said the crew just suffered bruises.

A replacement crew was sent to Kuching from here and the plane arrived in Kota Kinabalu at 8.30pm.