A Number of Injured as Turbulence Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services stated they treated a total of five people, and took three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and headaches. The patients' ages were between their thirties and seventies.

It is the newest example of aircraft experiencing turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson added, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, 25 people sustained injuries when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through unstable air apply in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the jet stream level are likely to heighten the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.