Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated five patients, and transported a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official added, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and often stronger.

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while cases of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of over 35 million flights that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet passing through rough air masses exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.