Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated a total of five people, and transported a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the representative noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Paramedics said they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is getting more common - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As climate change modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.