Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines jet originating in LA to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services stated they assessed a total of five people, and took three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. Those affected were between their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the newest example of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

Paramedics reported they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. An individual died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.