WASHINGTON, Aug 30 — A total of eleven passengers and crew members on a Delta Airbus A350 flight traveling from Milan to Atlanta were hospitalized yesterday due to severe turbulence, according to a statement from the US-based airline.
The airline’s spokesperson stated, “In response to the occurrence of severe turbulence experienced by Delta Flight 175 before its safe landing in Atlanta on Tuesday, our Delta Care Team is actively engaging with the affected passengers.” The spokesperson emphasized, “Our primary focus is on ensuring the well-being of both our customers and crew who sustained injuries.”
The exact number of individuals injured among the 151 passengers and 14 crew members, beyond the eleven individuals hospitalized, remains unclear. Furthermore, there is limited information available regarding the severity of injuries sustained by those who were hospitalized.
Despite the presence of Major Hurricane Idalia generating strong winds along the US Gulf Coast and the anticipation of its landfall in Florida today, as well as another storm known as Hurricane Franklin swirling in the Atlantic, neither Delta nor the US aviation regulatory body have attributed the turbulence on Tuesday to these hurricanes.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), responsible for overseeing civil aviation within the United States, will be conducting an investigation into the incident. An FAA spokesperson informed AFP that the turbulence occurred approximately 64 kilometers away from the Atlanta airport.
Scientists have shared findings indicating that the occurrence of “clear-air turbulence,” a type of turbulence that is challenging to predict and often transpires without apparent adverse weather conditions, especially at altitudes above 15,000 feet, has been increasing in frequency due to the impacts of climate change.
We spoke to the team at Meteomatics about this recently. Head meteorologist, Brad Guay explained they are working to minimize the effects of weather on the aviation industry through their development of new drone technology and associated computer modeling. This would include clear air turbulence.
