Several Hurt as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services stated they treated a total of five people, and took a trio to the hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.
The event represents the most recent case of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a significant contributor.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official added, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they were alerted just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.
The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and often stronger.
In the previous year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a terrifying short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
In-flight turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.
Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.
Severe turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a aircraft going through rough air masses generate more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.
As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, experts warn that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.
