Multiple Affected as Turbulence Strikes Delta Plane into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services stated they evaluated five patients, and took three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts pointing out that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of over 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet going through rough air masses exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.