Several Injured as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight Landing at Sydney

Several people sustained injuries following a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced rough air this past Friday.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Four flight attendants were injured.

Local paramedics stated they evaluated five patients, and took a trio to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and headaches. Those affected spanned from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists pointing out that global warming is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they got a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

The reasons turbulence is getting more frequent - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, two dozen individuals were hurt when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing short but intense bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in were thrown from their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are around thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a total of over 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through unstable air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As climate change modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and shifting wind patterns in the higher altitudes are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.