A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft Arriving in Sydney

Several people were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft from LA to Sydney encountered rough air this past Friday.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson stated. A number of the onboard staff sustained injuries.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five patients, and transferred a trio to hospital with relatively minor issues that included spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured ranged from their 30s to 70s.

This marks the latest incident of planes experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers indicating that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane arrived "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Paramedics said they were alerted just a mere three minutes before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

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

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" rough air just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a frightening five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is fairly routine on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are approximately 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a jet going through unstable air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.