Multiple Injured as Rough Air Impacts Delta Flight into Sydney

A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated five individuals, and took a trio to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and head pain. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets encountering severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Emergency responders said they received a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more frequent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing unstable air apply more 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 a changing climate alters weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.