Several Injured as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta jet originating in LA to Sydney, Australia encountered significant turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services stated they treated five individuals, and took a trio to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more common - and often stronger.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight went through a harrowing five seconds of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.