Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants were injured.
Local paramedics reported they treated five individuals, and transferred three of them to hospital with minor injuries that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. Those affected ranged from their 30s to 70s.
It is the most recent case of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a major factor.
There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.
Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
During the past year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a terrifying brief five-second of severe turbulence. A traveler died and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.
In-flight turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.
Severe turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing unstable air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.
As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
