Several Hurt as Rough Air Hits Delta Aircraft Landing at Sydney

Several people have been injured when a Delta jet from Los Angeles to Sydney experienced rough air this past Friday.

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

The New South Wales Ambulance Service stated they assessed five patients, and transported a trio to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. The injured were between their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the latest incident of commercial jets experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a major factor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the aircraft, the official added, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Paramedics said they were alerted just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is getting more common - and often stronger.

Last year, two dozen individuals were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying five seconds of severe turbulence. One passenger lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Bumpy air is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are statistically infrequent.

Data suggests that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance annually, out of a total of more than 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the sudden jolts of a jet experiencing disturbed air apply greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies weather patterns, experts warn that commercial aviation could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.