Multiple Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight into Sydney

Several people sustained injuries after a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they treated five patients, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of aircraft encountering turbulence, with researchers saying that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders reported they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying brief five-second period of extreme instability. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million journeys that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through disturbed air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.