A Number of Injured as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney
Several people were hurt following a Delta Airlines flight from LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.
Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants were injured.
Emergency medical services reported they assessed five individuals, and transferred a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the newest example of commercial jets encountering severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that climate change is a key driver.
On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.
Why in-flight bumpiness is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing brief five-second of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.
Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that now take off around the world.
Intense turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through disturbed air exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.
As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.