Multiple Injured as In-Flight Disturbance Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane into Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew sustained injuries when a Delta Airlines jet originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Several cabin crew members were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they assessed a total of five people, and transported three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that included spinal discomfort and migraines. The injured ranged from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets encountering turbulence, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a key driver.

On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the official noted, clarifying that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane landed, and response teams were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting more common - and more severe.

During the past year, two dozen individuals were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the lengthy trip, and had to make an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet went through a frightening five seconds period of extreme instability. A traveler died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine during flights, and while instances of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a overall number of more than 35 million aircraft departures that are conducted globally.

Severe turbulence is categorized as when the vertical motions of a aircraft passing through rough air masses generate greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to lift you out of your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As global warming shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that commercial aviation could become bumpier: warming trends and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.