A Number of Injured as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries following a Delta jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered turbulence this past Friday.
The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants were injured.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated five patients, and took three to hospital with minor injuries that included spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the latest incident of commercial jets encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts indicating that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.
The aircraft was carrying 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
Emergency responders reported they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.
Why plane turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and more severe.
Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight endured a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.
Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.
Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through disturbed air apply more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.
