Several Hurt as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries following a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Local paramedics stated they treated a total of five people, and transferred three of them to hospital with minor injuries that included back pain and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders said they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

In 2024, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through disturbed air exert in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.