Several Affected as Turbulence Impacts Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney

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

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Emergency medical services said they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics reported they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "significant" turbulence just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a frightening five seconds of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through unstable air generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.