A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and took three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the newest example of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they were alerted just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight went through a terrifying brief five-second period of extreme instability. One passenger lost their life and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing disturbed air apply greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: temperature changes and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.