A Number of Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated a total of five people, and took three to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of aircraft experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists pointing out that climate change is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, 25 people sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "significant" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through unstable air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As a changing climate modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.