A Number of Injured as Rough Air Strikes Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five individuals, and transported a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and headaches. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official added, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a frightening five seconds of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a jet experiencing disturbed air apply more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.