Several Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed a total of five people, and took three of them to a medical facility with minor injuries that such as back pain and head pain. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics said they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet going through unstable air generate in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.