Several Injured as Turbulence Impacts Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney
A number of individuals have been injured after a Delta Airlines flight originating in LA to Sydney encountered turbulence Friday morning.
The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services said they assessed five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with minor injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.
This marks the newest example of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.
There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.
The reasons turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.
Turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.
Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million flights that now take off globally.
Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.
As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are expected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.
