Several Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services reported they treated five individuals, and transferred three to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages ranged from their thirties and seventies.
It is the latest incident of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with experts saying that climate change is a key driver.
There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
Emergency responders indicated they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.
Why in-flight bumpiness is growing increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.
Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight endured a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.
Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.
Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft going through disturbed air generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.
As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.
