Multiple Injured as Rough Air Strikes Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta aircraft originating in LA to Sydney experienced turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected spanned from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the latest incident of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they were alerted 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 increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" turbulence just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing five seconds of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft experiencing disturbed air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As a changing climate alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.