A Number of Affected as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney

Several people were hurt following a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated five individuals, and took three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the newest example of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

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

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while instances of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off globally.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through disturbed air exert greater than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As global warming alters weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are projected to boost the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.