Multiple Affected as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta flight traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they evaluated a total of five people, and transported a trio to a medical facility with minor injuries that such as pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes encountering turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a key driver.

On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics reported they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through disturbed air apply more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As a changing climate alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.