Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney
A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered turbulence Friday morning.
Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated a total of five people, and took a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
It is the latest incident of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a major factor.
The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
Emergency responders reported they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.
Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.
Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.
In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.
Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur globally.
Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing disturbed air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.
As climate change modifies the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.
