Eleven passengers and crew members on Delta Air Lines flight DL175 from Milan Malpensa, Italy, and Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were taken to hospital. The incident happened on Tuesday, 29 August. Emergency services rushed to the aircraft shortly after the safe landing of the Airbus A350-900 (registered N576DZ).
The aircraft was carrying 151 passengers and 14 crew members and was situated about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta when the turbulence occurred.
The extent of the injuries was not immediately apparent.
“Delta Care Team members are mobilizing to connect with customers on Delta Flight 175 that experienced severe turbulence before landing safely in Atlanta Tuesday,” the spokesperson said.
Both Delta Air Lines and air traffic control reported that this was not due to the impending hurricane Idalia which is currently located southeast of the United States.
Climate experts and meteorologists have already established that so-called “clear-air” turbulence is becoming more common due to climate change. This turbulent movement of air masses is more difficult to predict due to the absence of any visual clues, such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet.
Aviation24.be reported an increasing number of incidents in which turbulence causes casualties. Hence it is advised (and announced multiple times per flight) that passengers should wear their seat belts during the entire flight.
[…] Severe turbulence on Delta Air Lines flight from Milan Malpensa to Atlanta injures eleven […]