Multiple Injured as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Several cabin crew members were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated five patients, and transported three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the latest incident of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the representative said, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are around five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing disturbed air apply more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.