Several Injured as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics reported they assessed five individuals, and transferred three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they received a call just three minutes before the plane touched down, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" turbulence just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through unstable air generate more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.