Multiple Affected as Rough Air Impacts Delta Aircraft into Sydney
Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney experienced turbulence Friday morning.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members were injured.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.
The event represents the latest incident of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a major factor.
On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.
Paramedics indicated they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.
Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
During the past year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in 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 around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.
Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing unstable air exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
