Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney
A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence this past Friday.
The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants were injured.
Local paramedics said they assessed five individuals, and transferred three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their 30s up to the 70s.
It is the latest incident of aircraft experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.
Paramedics reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane landed, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.
Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying short but intense period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet passing through unstable air exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.
As global warming alters weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.
