A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney
Several people sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants were injured.
Local paramedics stated they assessed a total of five people, 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.
The event represents the latest incident of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.
There were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.
Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" rough air just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying brief five-second of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.
Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a sum of over 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through rough air masses exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.
As climate change alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.