A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Hits A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals have been injured following a Delta Airlines jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney encountered turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they treated five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with minor injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and headaches. Those affected were between their thirties and seventies.

It is the newest example of planes encountering turbulence, with researchers saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official said, stating that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and often stronger.

During the past year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a harrowing five seconds period of extreme instability. An individual lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate more than a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As climate change modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are projected to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.