A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Strikes Delta Aircraft into Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta Airlines aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they treated a total of five people, and took three of them to the hospital with relatively minor issues that such as pain in the back and headaches. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the newest example of planes being hit by atmospheric disturbance, with experts pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a significant contributor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative noted, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they got a call just only 180 seconds prior to the plane touched down, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

Why plane turbulence is becoming more common - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a certain international flight endured a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual passed away and dozens were injured, as unbelted passengers were thrown from their seats and fell back down.

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

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of severe or worse turbulence every year, out of a total of over 35 million journeys that are conducted around the world.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a aircraft passing through rough air masses apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies atmospheric conditions, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to heighten the regularity and severity of severe turbulence.