A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services said they treated five individuals, and transferred three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the newest example of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official said, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "severe" rough air just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a terrifying five seconds of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane passing through unstable air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change shifts weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.