A Number of Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta flight from LA to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.
Local paramedics said they treated five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and headaches. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.
This marks the newest example of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a significant contributor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative added, stating that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.
Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.
Last year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.
Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight went through a frightening brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.
Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that now take off around the world.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through disturbed air generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.
As climate change modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.