A Number of Injured as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from LA to Sydney encountered rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services stated they assessed five individuals, and took three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and migraines. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of commercial jets experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official said, stating that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more common - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a plane passing through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.