Several Injured as Rough Air Strikes Delta Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt following a Delta aircraft from LA to Sydney was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Emergency medical services said they treated a total of five people, and transported three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that such as spinal discomfort and head pain. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the newest example of planes being hit by turbulence, with researchers pointing out that global warming is a key driver.

On board were 245 people and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the representative said, adding that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on the day in question.

Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just only 180 seconds ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is getting increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

During the past year, 25 people were injured when a Delta Airlines flight, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, experienced "significant" turbulence just 120 minutes into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight experienced a terrifying brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler lost their life and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and fell back down.

In-flight turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while instances of rough conditions are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

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

Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a aircraft going through disturbed air generate greater than 1.5g-force on your body - sufficient force to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a safety belt.

As a changing climate alters weather patterns, researchers alert that flying could become more turbulent: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the jet stream level are projected to increase the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.