A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

Local paramedics stated they evaluated five patients, and transferred three to hospital with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with experts indicating that global warming is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official noted, adding that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they were alerted just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying five seconds of severe turbulence. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through rough air masses exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As a changing climate alters weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.