Multiple Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Plane into Sydney, Australia
Several people were hurt after a Delta jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. A number of the onboard staff were injured.
Emergency medical services said they treated five individuals, and transported three to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.
The event represents the newest example of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a key driver.
On board were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the official added, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.
Paramedics indicated they got a call just three minutes before the plane touched down, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.
Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more frequent - and more severe.
In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.
Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.
In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.
Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.
Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing unstable air generate more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.
As climate change shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.