Multiple Injured as Turbulence Strikes Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries following a Delta aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they evaluated five patients, and transferred three of them to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that such as spinal discomfort and migraines. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with experts saying that climate change is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane landed, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more common - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight endured a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing rough air masses exert greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming alters weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.