Several Hurt as Turbulence Impacts Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

A number of individuals sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia experienced significant turbulence this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they assessed a total of five people, and transported three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that included back pain and head pain. Those affected ranged from their thirties and seventies.

The event represents the most recent case of planes being hit by severe turbulence, with aviation specialists indicating that climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 people and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the representative said, stating that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 06:48 local time on Friday.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just three minutes prior to the plane landed, and response teams were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "significant" turbulence just 120 minutes into the transoceanic journey, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and numerous people sustained injuries, as those without seatbelts rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Estimates show that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur globally.

Intense turbulence is categorized as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through unstable air exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As a changing climate modifies atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.