Multiple Affected as Turbulence Strikes Delta Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney experienced rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five patients, and took three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the official said, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just three minutes before the plane landed, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a sum of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing unstable air apply greater than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.