Multiple Injured as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured when a Delta Airlines jet from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred a trio to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their thirties and seventies.

It is the latest incident of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative added, adding that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they received a call just three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through disturbed air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.