A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five patients, and took a trio to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the newest example of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a major factor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Paramedics reported they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more common - and more severe.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane experiencing unstable air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.