A Number of Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Local paramedics said they assessed a total of five people, and transferred three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with researchers pointing out that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative said, stating that the plane arrived "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they got a call just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. An individual lost their life and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing rough air masses exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As climate change alters weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to boost the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.