A Number of Affected as Rough Air Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated a total of five people, and took three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and headaches. Those affected ranged from their thirties and seventies.
It is the most recent case of commercial jets experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative said, stating that the plane arrived "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.
The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.
The reasons turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.
In the previous year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.
Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.
Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur worldwide.
Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft going through unstable air generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.
As global warming shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that flying could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
