A Number of Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.
Local paramedics stated they treated five patients, and transferred three to hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.
The event represents the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a significant contributor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official added, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
Paramedics said they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.
The reasons turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and had to make an unscheduled landing.
Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a frightening brief five-second of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.
Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.
Estimates show that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.
Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through rough air masses generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.
As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.