Multiple Affected as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries when a Delta flight from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated five individuals, and transported a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just three minutes before the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a terrifying short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through disturbed air exert in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are expected to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.