Several Injured as Rough Air Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence on Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.
Local paramedics said they evaluated five individuals, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the newest example of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.
Paramedics indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.
Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.
During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.
Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million flights that are conducted globally.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing rough air masses apply greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.
As climate change shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.