A Number of Hurt as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney

A number of individuals have been injured following a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney encountered significant turbulence this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five individuals, and took three to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised back pain and headaches. The injured spanned from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of commercial jets being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative added, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight endured a terrifying short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence during flights, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane experiencing disturbed air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that air travel could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.