Multiple Affected as Turbulence Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals have been injured after a Delta aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and took three to a medical facility with minor injuries that included back pain and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just three minutes before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff 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 unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through rough air masses apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are expected to heighten the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.