Several Affected as Turbulence Strikes Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

A number of individuals were hurt after a Delta jet from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered turbulence this past Friday.

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

Emergency medical services reported they treated a total of five people, and transported three to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and head pain. Those affected were between their thirties and seventies.

This marks the most recent case of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers saying that climate change is a key driver.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just two hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane passing through rough air masses apply greater than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.