Several Affected as Rough Air Hits Delta Plane into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered rough air Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five patients, and transferred three of them to hospital with minor injuries that included pain in the back and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official noted, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they received a call just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft going through disturbed air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.