Several Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines flight originating in LA to Sydney, Australia encountered significant turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Emergency medical services reported they evaluated five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included back pain and headaches. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they got a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a total of over 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing unstable air apply in excess of 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.