A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney
Several people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines aircraft from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services said they assessed five individuals, and transferred three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.
The event represents the latest incident of commercial jets encountering severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a major factor.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative added, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.
Paramedics reported they got a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.
Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and often stronger.
In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a terrifying 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.
Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that now take off around the world.
Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane going through disturbed air generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.
As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.
