Cases of Dangerous Turbulence Increasing

On August 28, a United Airlines aircraft operating a flight from Cancun (Mexico) to Chicago (USA) was forced to make an emergency landing in Memphis (USA) due to injuries to 7 people. The Boeing 737-900 encountered a severe turbulence zone at an altitude of 9700 meters over the state of Louisiana. The crew decided to land in Memphis, where one of the injured passengers was taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries, while the rest declined medical assistance. The aircraft carried a total of 179 people, including 7 crew members.

This incident is not the first of its kind this year. In May, a passenger on a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore was killed due to severe turbulence, and another 71 people were injured. In the same month, a flight attendant on Turkish Airlines' Istanbul-Izmir route broke her spine. At the end of June, 30 passengers were injured on an Air Europa flight from Madrid to Montevideo.

The situation is exacerbated by a study from the University of Reading, which indicates that cases of severe turbulence have increased by 55% over the past 40 years, a trend linked to climate change. Although such incidents are relatively rare, they remain a significant cause of injuries among passengers and crew on commercial flights.