A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia
Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.
Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members were injured.
Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and transported three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.
The event represents the newest example of commercial jets being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a key driver.
On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, adding that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
Emergency responders said they got a call just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.
Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and often stronger.
During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.
Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and fell back down.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.
Research indicates that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off around the world.
Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses exert in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.
As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that flying could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.
