A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Hits Delta Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five patients, and transported three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised pain in the back and migraines. The injured were between their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the latest incident of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a major factor.

On board were 245 people and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative added, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics said they received a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is getting more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" rough air just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an precautionary landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft passing through unstable air exert in excess of 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 seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are likely to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.