A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines jet from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated five individuals, and took three of them to hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the latest incident of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Emergency responders reported they received a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

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

Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a jet experiencing rough air masses apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.