A Number of Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they assessed five patients, and transported three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a terrifying short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through unstable air exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change modifies weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.