Several Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five patients, and transported three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and headaches. Those affected spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. One passenger passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through rough air masses apply in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As a changing climate alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are expected to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.