Several Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt after a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services said they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred a trio to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and headaches. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.

It is the latest incident of planes encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the official said, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through rough air masses apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As a changing climate alters the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.