Several Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered rough air Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that such as back pain and headaches. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with experts pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Paramedics reported they received a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying brief five-second of severe turbulence. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a plane going through unstable 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 were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.