Multiple Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines flight from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced 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. A number of the onboard staff were injured.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they assessed five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.
It is the newest example of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a key driver.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.
Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.
Why in-flight bumpiness is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "considerable" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.
Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.
Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.
Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing unstable air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.
As climate change modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.
