A Number of Affected as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they assessed five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official added, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

During the past year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a total of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off around the world.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through unstable air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.