A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney

Several people were hurt when a Delta aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated five patients, and transferred a trio to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes encountering severe turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "severe" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft experiencing disturbed air apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As a changing climate modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.