Multiple Affected as Rough Air Strikes Delta Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured following a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five individuals, and transferred three of them to hospital with minor injuries that included pain in the back and head pain. The injured were between their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the newest example of aircraft experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that global warming is a key driver.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson noted, adding that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

Paramedics reported they got a call just a mere three minutes before the plane touched down, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

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

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" rough air just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight went through a terrifying brief five-second bout of severe turbulence. An individual died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Research indicates that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million flights that currently occur around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane passing through unstable air generate more than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a safety belt.

As global warming alters the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to heighten the frequency and intensity of dangerous in-flight bumps.