A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals have been injured after a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they assessed five patients, and took a trio to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a key driver.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official added, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Emergency responders reported they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more common - and often stronger.

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

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening brief five-second of severe turbulence. An individual died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of over 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through unstable air exert in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change modifies weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.