Three members of crew from a Delta Air Lines flight have been sent to hospital after their flight’s arrival in Sydney proved rougher than expected. They were among a total of five people on board the Atlanta-based US ‘big three’ legacy carrier and SkyTeam founding member’s Airbus A350-900 that were injured after the service, which had a grand total of 245 passengers on board, encountered ‘brief’ but brutal turbulence on approach.

Despite the dramatic nature of this inflight event, the aircraft was able to land safely in Sydney as planned, and managed to touch down three-quarters of an hour ahead of schedule. Likewise, the return flight was able to operate punctually, suggesting that the aircraft itself did not sustain any lasting damage during the incident. Even so, the fact that five people were injured, with three being hospitalized, underlines the threat of turbulence.

A Rough Arrival

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According to ABC News, Delta Air Lines flight 41 from Los Angeles (LAX) in southern California to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) in the Australian state of New South Wales was met by ambulance crews upon its arrival this morning. The reason for their presence was a brief inflight turbulence event that the flight encountered during its descent towards Sydney, whereby, per an ambulance spokesperson, five people were injured.

Of these, Sydney Kingsford Smith’s NSW Ambulance Station Manager, Lisa Frow, confirmed that “three were transported to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with minor injuries,” with these all being flight attendants from Delta Air Lines. She added that “musculoskeletal and lower back concerns” were among the issues reported upon paramedics’ assessment of the injured individuals. A Delta spokesperson offered the following statement:

“Delta flight 41 from Los Angeles encountered brief turbulence upon descent into Sydney, and four flight attendants reported injuries. Nothing is more important than the safety of our people and our customers.”

The Aircraft Involved

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According to tracking data made available by Flightradar24, the aircraft operating Delta Air Lines flight DL41 when it encountered turbulence while descending towards Sydney Kingsford Smith this morning was an Airbus A350-900 that bears the registration N524DN. Data from ch-aviation shows that this 1.6-year-old jet is one of 40 units of the A350-900 in Delta’s fleet, and the carrier also has another 19 on order (plus 20 A350-1000s).

Given the wide variety of routes and markets served by Delta’s A350s, aeroLOPA notes that the carrier has two different configurations for the type. One, designated as ‘359,’ has 32 business class, 48 premium economy, and 226 economy seats on board, while the other, designated as ’35H,’ has space for 40 business class, 40 premium economy, and 195 guests. N524DN carries the latter, more premium-heavy layout, with 275 seats.

As previously noted, there were 245 passengers on board the flight that hit turbulence while descending towards Sydney this morning, giving it a load factor of 89.1%. According to the BBC, the service was also carrying 15 members of crew. Despite its dramatic arrival, Flightradar24 shows that N524DN operated the return leg of this rotation, DL40, as planned, and touched down at LAX a minute ahead of schedule at 5:39 am local time.

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A Competitive Transpacific Corridor

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When it comes to routes between Australia and the United States of America, few are more popular and lucrative than the transpacific corridor between Los Angeles International and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, as many as five flights a day are scheduled to depart LAX for Sydney this month, with these services spread across four different airlines, each with its own aircraft type.

Alongside flight DL41, Delta Air Lines also operates a second daily rotation on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Numbered as DL43, this service also uses the Airbus A350-900. Elsewhere on the Airbus front, Qantas uses the A380 to link LAX to Sydney on a daily basis, while its fellow oneworld member American Airlines does so using the Boeing 777-300ER. Meanwhile, United’s daily service uses the 787-9 Dreamliner.