A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals have been injured when a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney experienced turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed a total of five people, and took a trio to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as back pain and migraines. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the newest example of planes experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a harrowing five seconds bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a sum of over 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a plane experiencing disturbed air apply in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.