Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Strikes Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney experienced rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics stated they treated a total of five people, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with experts indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just three minutes before the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more common - and often stronger.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" rough air just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.