Several Hurt as Rough Air Impacts Delta Plane into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they assessed five patients, and transferred three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft encountering turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative added, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of over 35 million flights that are conducted globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through unstable air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that flying could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.