Multiple Hurt as Rough Air Impacts A Delta Airlines Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

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

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and transported a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages were between their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers indicating that global warming is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Paramedics said they got a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing more frequent - and often stronger.

In the previous year, 25 people were hurt when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and many were hurt, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon while flying, and while occurrences of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Research indicates that there are approximately five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that are conducted around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a aircraft experiencing unstable air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to boost the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.