Multiple Affected as Turbulence Hits Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured after a Delta Airlines aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence Friday morning.

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

Local paramedics said they assessed a total of five people, and transferred three to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and head pain. Those affected ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with researchers saying that climate change is a key driver.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and often stronger.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. One passenger lost their life and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing rough air masses generate more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As global warming shifts atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.