A Number of Injured as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney
Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services reported they assessed five individuals, and transferred a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.
The event represents the newest example of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with experts pointing out that climate change is a key driver.
On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the representative said, stating that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and response teams were standing by on the runway.
Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and often stronger.
Last year, 25 people were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.
Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet experiencing disturbed air apply greater 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 restraint.
As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.