A Number of Injured as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia
Several people sustained injuries following a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.
The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated five patients, and transported a trio to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and headaches. Those affected spanned from their thirties and seventies.
This marks the latest incident of commercial jets being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts pointing out that global warming is a key driver.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.
Paramedics reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.
The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and often stronger.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and fell back down.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.
Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.
Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through disturbed air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.
As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.
