Multiple Affected as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft into Sydney, Australia
Several people have been injured after a Delta Airlines flight from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.
Emergency medical services stated they treated five individuals, and transported a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and migraines. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the latest incident of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.
There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.
The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.
Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "significant" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.
Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.
Intense turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a jet experiencing rough air masses generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As a changing climate alters atmospheric conditions, experts warn that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.