Multiple Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five patients, and transferred a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the newest example of commercial jets being hit by turbulence, with researchers pointing out that climate change is a key driver.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they got a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that now take off around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through rough air masses exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.