Several Affected as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated a total of five people, and transported three to hospital with minor injuries that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with experts saying that climate change is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics said they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight went through a terrifying brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.