A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft into Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.
The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated a total of five people, and took three to hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and headaches. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
It is the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a key driver.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
Paramedics said they got a call just three minutes before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.
Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight endured a terrifying brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.
Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a sum of over 35 million flights that are conducted worldwide.
Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through rough air masses apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.
As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.
