Multiple Affected as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta flight from LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.
The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services stated they assessed five individuals, and transferred a trio to a medical facility with minor injuries that included spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the latest incident of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.
There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
Emergency responders reported they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.
The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an emergency landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.
Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane going through unstable air generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.
As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
