A Number of Affected as Turbulence Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt following a Delta aircraft originating in LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Local paramedics stated they treated a total of five people, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and migraines. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a significant contributor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the representative added, adding that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and had to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses exert more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.