Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

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

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

Emergency medical services reported they assessed a total of five people, and transported a trio to the hospital with minor injuries that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of commercial jets encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that global warming is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "significant" turbulence just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying five seconds bout of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the up and down movements of a plane going through rough air masses apply in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are expected to boost the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.