Several Affected as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics reported they treated five individuals, and transported a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected ranged from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a key driver.

On board were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Emergency responders reported they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a terrifying short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of over 35 million flights that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing disturbed air generate in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As a changing climate alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are expected to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.