Multiple Affected as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

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

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated five patients, and took three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the newest example of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with experts indicating that climate change is a major factor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the official added, clarifying that the plane touched down "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service reported they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing more frequent - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is described as when the up and down movements of a plane passing through disturbed air apply more than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - sufficient force to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that commercial aviation could become bumpier: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.