Several Hurt as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured when a Delta Airlines flight originating in LA to Sydney was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics reported they treated a total of five people, and transported three to the hospital with minor injuries that included back pain and headaches. Those affected were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with experts saying that climate change is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics reported they were alerted just only 180 seconds prior to the plane landed, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more common - and often stronger.

During the past year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through disturbed air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.