Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries after a Delta aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.
Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and headaches. Those affected were between their thirties and seventies.
It is the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.
The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the official noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.
Emergency responders reported they were alerted just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.
Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and often stronger.
In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight endured a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.
Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.
Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.
Severe turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing rough air masses exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As a changing climate shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.
