A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they treated five individuals, and transported a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and migraines. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative added, stating that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a frightening brief five-second of severe turbulence. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing unstable air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.