A Number of Affected as Turbulence Impacts Delta Plane into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew have been injured when a Delta Airlines flight traveling from LA to Sydney experienced turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they treated five patients, and transported a trio to the hospital with minor injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the newest example of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers indicating that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, adding that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders indicated they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler died and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while occurrences of rough conditions seem to be rising, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a plane going through rough air masses generate 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 restraint.

As global warming alters weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to boost the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.