Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five individuals, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the official added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and more severe.

Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing five seconds of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through disturbed air generate in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.