A Number of Injured as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Several people have been injured following a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney encountered rough air on Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. A number of the onboard staff were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they treated a total of five people, and transported a trio to a medical facility with minor injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of aircraft being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts saying that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the official said, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a certain international flight went through a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses apply in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As climate change alters weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.