Several Affected as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Several people sustained injuries after a Delta aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they treated a total of five people, and transferred three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official said, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they were alerted just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is becoming increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

During the past year, 25 people sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a sum of over 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through rough air masses exert in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change modifies atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.