A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries after a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air this past Friday.

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

Local paramedics reported they assessed five individuals, and transported three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics indicated they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual died and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

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

Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing rough air masses exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.