A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Several people were hurt following a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they evaluated a total of five people, and took three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the newest example of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Paramedics said they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight experienced a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a jet going through disturbed air exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, experts warn that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.