A Number of Affected as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries after a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Local paramedics stated they treated five patients, and took three to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised back pain and migraines. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more common - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, two dozen individuals were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is fairly routine while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a sum of over 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane going through rough air masses exert more than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.