A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated five individuals, and transferred a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes being hit by turbulence, with experts pointing out that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" turbulence just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through unstable air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.