Multiple Hurt as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Aircraft into Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight traveling from LA to Sydney experienced rough air Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. A number of the onboard staff required medical attention.

Emergency medical services stated they treated five patients, and took three to the hospital with relatively minor issues that such as back pain and head pain. The patients' ages ranged from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of planes being hit by turbulence, with experts indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were 245 passengers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the official added, clarifying that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics indicated they were alerted just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane touched down, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is getting more frequent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines flight, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" rough air just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a harrowing five seconds 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.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million journeys that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is described as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing rough air masses apply in excess of 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 global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.