Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence on Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Emergency medical services reported they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. Those affected spanned from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with experts indicating that global warming is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the official added, clarifying that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "significant" turbulence just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight went through a terrifying short but intense period of extreme instability. An individual died and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

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

Research indicates that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet going through disturbed air generate in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.