A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Strikes Delta Flight Landing at Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt after a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants were injured.

Local paramedics stated they assessed five patients, and took three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and head pain. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

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

There were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane landed "safely" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just a mere three minutes prior to the plane touched down, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and often stronger.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "severe" turbulence just two hours into the lengthy trip, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a frightening five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Research indicates that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a plane experiencing rough air masses exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.