Several Hurt as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft into Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated a total of five people, and took three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

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

The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and often stronger.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight endured a terrifying brief five-second of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane experiencing rough air masses generate in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to boost the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.