A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney

A number of individuals were hurt following a Delta Airlines jet from LA to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the newest example of aircraft being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that climate change is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Paramedics indicated they got a call just a mere 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 often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is fairly routine while flying, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through disturbed air apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As a changing climate shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.