Several Hurt as Turbulence Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta Airlines flight traveling from LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated a total of five people, and transported three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and headaches. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of over 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through rough air masses generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As global warming shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.