Several Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines jet from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Emergency medical services said they treated five individuals, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and head pain. Those affected spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official added, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

During the past year, 25 people were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight went through a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.