A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Impacts Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five patients, and transferred three to hospital with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of aircraft experiencing turbulence, with experts saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson added, stating that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming more frequent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" rough air just two hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet passing through disturbed air apply more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies weather patterns, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.