Multiple Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt following a Delta aircraft originating in LA to Sydney experienced rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred a trio to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and head pain. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they got a call just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and often stronger.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through disturbed air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As a changing climate modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.