A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Aircraft into Sydney, Australia
A number of individuals have been injured following a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.
The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.
Emergency medical services stated they assessed five patients, and transferred a trio to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.
This marks the most recent case of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.
On board were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
Emergency responders said they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.
Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.
Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "considerable" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.
Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur worldwide.
Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through disturbed air exert more than a significant G-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.
As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.
