A Number of Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia
Several people have been injured when a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced turbulence on Friday morning.
Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members were injured.
Emergency medical services said they evaluated five patients, and transported a trio to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.
This marks the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a major factor.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
Paramedics reported they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.
The reasons turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.
Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.
Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.
As global warming alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.
