A Number of Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics stated they evaluated a total of five people, and transported three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a major factor.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and more severe.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening brief five-second of severe turbulence. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a plane passing through rough air masses exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As global warming alters weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.