Multiple Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they assessed five individuals, and transferred three of them to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and head pain. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing unstable air exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.