Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured following a Delta Airlines flight traveling from LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they evaluated five patients, and transferred a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included back pain and migraines. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the newest example of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

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

The reasons turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a harrowing brief five-second of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing disturbed air apply more than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.