Multiple Affected as Turbulence Strikes Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services stated they evaluated a total of five people, and took three to the hospital with minor injuries that such as spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the latest incident of commercial jets being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the official noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they were alerted just three minutes before the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses exert greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming alters weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.