Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they assessed five individuals, and transported three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of aircraft being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts pointing out that climate change is a key driver.

There were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official said, adding that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders said they got a call just three minutes before the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - 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 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that currently occur globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through rough air masses exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.