Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Hits Delta Aircraft into Sydney

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they evaluated a total of five people, and transferred three of them to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with experts saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the representative added, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a certain international flight went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft going through unstable air apply in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.