Several Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

Emergency medical services said they evaluated a total of five people, and took three to the hospital with minor injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the newest example of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics reported they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is getting more common - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight endured a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while instances of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through disturbed air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.