Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they evaluated a total of five people, and took a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and head pain. Those affected ranged from their 30s to 70s.

It is the newest example of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Paramedics said they got a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane landed, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft experiencing disturbed air exert more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.