Multiple Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced significant turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five individuals, and took three to the hospital with relatively minor issues that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. Those affected ranged from their thirties and seventies.

It is the latest incident of planes experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they were alerted just three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft going through rough air masses exert 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 global warming modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.