Multiple Hurt as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney
A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered turbulence on Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.
Emergency medical services reported they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that such as spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
It is the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a key driver.
On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official said, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they were alerted just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.
The reasons turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.
In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a frightening five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.
Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.
Data suggests that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that currently occur around the world.
Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet going through disturbed air apply more than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to increase the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.
