Multiple Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services said they evaluated a total of five people, and transported three to hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and headaches. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the latest incident of commercial jets experiencing turbulence, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

On board were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is getting more common - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, 25 people were hurt when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" turbulence just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing brief five-second of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing rough air masses apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change modifies weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.