Multiple Affected as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they evaluated five individuals, and transferred three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a key driver.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative said, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more frequent - and more severe.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, 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 passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through unstable air exert more than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As climate change shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.