Several Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

Several people were hurt following a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney experienced turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services said they assessed five individuals, and transported a trio to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and migraines. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the newest example of aircraft experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official said, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a terrifying short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while instances of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of over 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a jet experiencing unstable air exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.