Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Plane into Sydney

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of planes encountering turbulence, with researchers indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative said, stating that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Paramedics indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing brief five-second of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet passing through rough air masses exert in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, experts warn that flying could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.