A Number of Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured after a Delta Airlines aircraft from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced significant turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they evaluated five patients, and took three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the official noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight went through a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane passing through 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 were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming alters weather patterns, researchers alert that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.