Severe turbulence injured at least five people aboard a Delta Air Lines flight on its final approach in to Sydney Airport on Friday. File photo by John Dickerson/UPI | License Photo
March 20 (UPI) — At least five people were injured Friday after a Delta Air Lines flight hit severe turbulence on its final approach to Sydney, Australia.
Delta told the BBC that Flight 41 from Los Angeles with 160 passengers and crew on board “encountered brief turbulence” as it landed at Sydney Airport, injuring four flight attendants.
The Airbus A350 touched down “safely and normally,” said a Delta spokesperson.
Three of the injured were taken to hospital by ambulance crews waiting on the tarmac after sustaining what paramedics determined were “musculoskeletal and lower back concerns.”
“I believe five were assessed; in total three were transported to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with minor injuries,” said Lisa Frow, manager of NSW Ambulance’s Mascot station.
Delta said none of those hurt were passengers, but Australian media listed two 71-year-olds, a 60-year-old-woman and a 37-year-old woman among the injured.
In July, more than two dozen passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 were hospitalized after it was buffeted by “significant turbulence” en route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam.
The flight diverted and landed safely at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport with 25 passengers taken to area hospitals.
In June, five people were injured when an American Airlines Airbus A321 hit “unexpected turbulence on flight from Miami to Durham, N.C.
Three flight attendants and two passengers were taken to the hospital.
Passengers reported an unconscious man, a flight attendant with a broken arm and another burned by hot water from a drinks cart.
The American Airlines incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, as is standard for incidents where there are injuries.
In May 2024, one person died and 71 were injured, seven critically, aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore that ran into unexpected extreme turbulence when it was at cruise altitude.
The flight deck declared an emergency, but landed the Boeing 777 safely at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Health officials determined that Briton, Geoff Kitchen, died of a suspected heart attack.
The incident prompted Singapore Airlines to revise its seat belt policy so that it would no longer provide hot beverage or meal service when the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated
While strong or severe turbulence — where disturbed air pitches an aircraft violently upward or downward, creating G-forces of up to 1.5 — is on the increase, it remains extremely rare, with only one in 7,000 flights affected.
However, experts warned that flying was likely to become rougher more often in the future due to climate change as temperature changes and shifting wind patterns impact atmospheric conditions.
Founder of the Women’s Tennis Association and tennis great Billie Jean King (C) smiles with representatives after speaking during an annual Women’s History Month event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX in Statuary Hall at the U.S .Capitol in Washington on March 9, 2022. Women’s History Month is celebrated every March. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
