Multiple Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries when a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics stated they evaluated five patients, and took three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that included pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a major factor.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics said they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a frightening short but intense bout of severe turbulence. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through disturbed air generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.