Multiple Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured following a Delta aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they evaluated five patients, and took a trio to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and headaches. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the latest incident of aircraft experiencing turbulence, with researchers saying that climate change is a major factor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official said, clarifying that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics said they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

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

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a terrifying five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through unstable air generate in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.