Several Injured as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane into Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and transferred three to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the official said, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" rough air just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight endured a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane going through unstable air generate more than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.