Several Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Several people have been injured when a Delta Airlines jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated five patients, and transported three of them to a medical facility with minor injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the most recent case of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they received a call just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening five seconds of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through rough air masses apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.