Several Affected as Rough Air Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages ranged from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the latest incident of aircraft being hit by turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative said, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

During the past year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a terrifying five seconds bout of severe turbulence. An individual died and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane passing through unstable air apply more than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.