A Number of Affected as In-Flight Disturbance Impacts A Delta Airlines Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt after a Delta jet from LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

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

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they evaluated five patients, and transported three of them to a medical facility with relatively minor issues that included back pain and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the most recent case of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with researchers saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and fifteen staff members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson added, clarifying that the plane landed "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

Emergency responders said they received a call just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

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

Last year, two dozen individuals sustained injuries when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, hit "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and dozens were injured, as those without seatbelts were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while instances of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of severe or worse turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the vertical motions of a jet experiencing unstable air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a restraint.

As climate change modifies atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: warming trends and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are expected to heighten the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.