Several Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals have been injured following a Delta jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they assessed five patients, and took three of them to hospital with minor injuries that comprised back pain and migraines. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just three minutes before the plane landed, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing rough air masses generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts weather patterns, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.