Several Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals have been injured following a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as back pain and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the official noted, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

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

In the previous year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight went through a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through rough air masses generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.