A Number of Affected as Rough Air Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney

Several people were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft from LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five patients, and took three of them to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that such as back pain and head pain. Those affected were between their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft experiencing turbulence, with researchers indicating that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative said, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing unstable air apply more 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 climate change alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.