Multiple Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney
Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence on Friday morning.
The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.
Emergency medical services said they treated five individuals, and transported three of them to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.
This marks the most recent case of aircraft experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the official added, stating that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.
Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.
In-flight turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.
Research indicates that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.
Intense turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through unstable air apply more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.