A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Flight into Sydney

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated five patients, and transferred three to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and migraines. The injured spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the official added, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Emergency responders indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and often stronger.

During the past year, 25 people were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" rough air just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing unstable air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming alters weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.