Several Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes Delta Plane Landing at Sydney

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they assessed a total of five people, and transported three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included back pain and migraines. Those affected spanned from their 30s to 70s.

It is the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane arrived, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "considerable" turbulence just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through unstable air generate more than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change modifies weather patterns, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.