Multiple Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured following a Delta flight 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 made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Local paramedics stated they evaluated a total of five people, and transported a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative said, clarifying that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Paramedics said they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

Last year, 25 people were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane experiencing unstable air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.