Several Affected as Rough Air Strikes Delta Plane Arriving in Sydney, Australia

A number of individuals were hurt when a Delta jet originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "went through a short bout of rough air" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Emergency medical services reported they evaluated five individuals, and transferred three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that included pain in the back and migraines. The patients' ages spanned from their 30s to 70s.

The event represents the latest incident of aircraft encountering severe turbulence, with researchers saying that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane landed "without further incident" at the airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on Friday.

Emergency responders reported they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Why plane turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, twenty-five passengers and crew were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "severe" atmospheric disturbance just two hours into the long-haul flight, and diverted for an emergency landing.

Earlier this year, those on board on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing brief five-second period of extreme instability. An individual died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while cases of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are approximately five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence each year, out of a overall number of over 35 million journeys that are conducted worldwide.

Intense turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a aircraft experiencing unstable air exert in excess of a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As climate change alters atmospheric conditions, specialists caution that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are projected to heighten the occurrence and strength of severe turbulence.