A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated five patients, and took three of them to a medical facility with minor injuries that such as pain in the back and head pain. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the most recent case of planes experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.
On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the representative said, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they were alerted just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.
Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more frequent - and more severe.
During the past year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying five seconds of severe turbulence. An individual died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.
Bumpy air is fairly routine while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted worldwide.
Intense turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through unstable air apply greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.
As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.
