Several Injured as Rough Air Impacts Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt after a Delta aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

Local paramedics stated they assessed a total of five people, and transported three to the hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and migraines. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the newest example of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson said, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics reported they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing five seconds of severe turbulence. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through disturbed air apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become less smooth: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.