Several Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Plane Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered significant turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Local paramedics reported they assessed a total of five people, and took three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and head pain. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the newest example of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with experts saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the official noted, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more common - and more severe.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight endured a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet going through rough air masses generate in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.