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

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the official noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Paramedics reported they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is growing more frequent - and more severe.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through disturbed air exert greater than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.