Multiple Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta jet from LA to Sydney experienced significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five individuals, and transferred a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the newest example of aircraft encountering turbulence, with researchers saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative said, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

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

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" turbulence just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through unstable air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.