A Number of Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured when a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

Emergency medical services said they assessed five individuals, and transported three to hospital with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative said, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics reported they received a call just three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through rough air masses apply in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.