Several Affected as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they treated a total of five people, and transferred three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and migraines. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of aircraft encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a overall number of over 35 million journeys that now take off globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane passing through disturbed air apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As climate change modifies the conditions in the sky, experts warn that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.