Several Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt after a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated a total of five people, and transported three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that such as spinal discomfort and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft encountering turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

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

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and often stronger.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through disturbed air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are projected to boost the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.