Multiple Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Plane into Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured following a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney encountered turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services stated they evaluated a total of five people, and transported three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the representative added, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they received a call just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" turbulence just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening five seconds bout of severe turbulence. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.