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

A number of individuals were hurt after a Delta flight from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed a total of five people, and transported three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as back pain and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets experiencing severe turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a key driver.

On board were 245 people and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official said, stating that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is getting increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through rough air masses apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: temperature changes and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.