Multiple Injured as Rough Air Impacts Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney encountered significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Local paramedics said they assessed a total of five people, and transported a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that comprised pain in the back and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with experts pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is becoming 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, encountered "severe" turbulence just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. An individual died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are likely to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.