Several Affected as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta Airlines flight traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia encountered rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they assessed five patients, and transported three of them to hospital with minor injuries that included back pain and head pain. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the most recent case of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

Paramedics indicated they received a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing more common - and more severe.

Last year, two dozen individuals were hurt when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through unstable air generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As a changing climate modifies the conditions in the sky, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the jet stream level are projected to increase the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.