Several Hurt as Turbulence Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta flight traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated five individuals, and took three of them to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the latest incident of planes encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they got a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.

Last year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight endured a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through unstable air generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.