Several Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services said they assessed five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative said, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

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

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and often stronger.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "considerable" rough air just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through disturbed air exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.