A Number of Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt following a Delta flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they assessed five individuals, and transported a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of planes experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that climate change is a key driver.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the representative noted, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" 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 only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is growing more common - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight endured a harrowing five seconds bout of severe turbulence. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that now take off globally.

Severe turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through unstable air generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are projected to boost the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.