A Number of Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official informed. Several cabin crew members were injured.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated five individuals, and took a trio to the hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and head pain. Those affected spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

Paramedics said they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more common - and often stronger.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" turbulence just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight endured a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.