A Number of Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five individuals, and took three to hospital with minor injuries that comprised back pain and headaches. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

This marks the newest example of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official said, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is getting more common - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft going through disturbed air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.