A Number of Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta aircraft originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

Local paramedics said they assessed a total of five people, and transferred a trio to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official added, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane landed, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing unstable air generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become bumpier: temperature changes and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.