Multiple Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt following a Delta jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier informed. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed a total of five people, and took a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised back pain and migraines. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the newest example of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a terrifying brief five-second of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while instances of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet going through unstable air exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.