Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney experienced turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they treated a total of five people, and transferred three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

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

Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and more severe.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through unstable air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are likely to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.