Multiple Hurt as Rough Air Impacts Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt when a Delta jet traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by significant turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, a company official stated. Several cabin crew members were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they assessed five individuals, and took three to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised back pain and migraines. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the newest example of commercial jets being hit by turbulence, with aviation specialists saying that climate change is a significant contributor.

There were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the representative said, adding that the plane touched down "without further incident" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders said they got a call just three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

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

Last year, 25 people were hurt when a Delta Airlines flight, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, hit "significant" turbulence just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, those on board on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a frightening five seconds bout of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

Bumpy air is not uncommon during flights, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a sum of more than 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the sudden jolts of a plane going through unstable air generate greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, experts warn that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the jet stream level are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.