Several Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney
A number of individuals sustained injuries when a Delta aircraft originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.
Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. Four flight attendants required medical attention.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated a total of five people, and transported three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and head pain. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.
The event represents the newest example of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers saying that global warming is a significant contributor.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members 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 reported they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.
The reasons turbulence is becoming more common - and potentially more dangerous.
During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and had to make an precautionary landing.
Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.
Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, 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 significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that now take off around the world.
Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane going through rough air masses apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.
As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.
