Several Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five patients, and took three to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes encountering turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the official said, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more common - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that now take off around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a plane passing through rough air masses exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are expected to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.