Several Injured as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A Delta Airlines at Sydney Airport.
The airline said the plane experienced "brief turbulence" as it landed at its destination.

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence on Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Emergency medical services stated they assessed five individuals, and took three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a major factor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million journeys that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through disturbed air generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.

Regina Hutchinson
Regina Hutchinson

Professional poker strategist and analyst with over a decade of experience in competitive poker and game theory.