A Number of Hurt as Turbulence Hits A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney

Several people were hurt following a Delta flight originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by significant turbulence this past Friday.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier stated. Several cabin crew members were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated five patients, and took three of them to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and headaches. The injured spanned from their 30s up to the 70s.

This marks the most recent case of planes experiencing atmospheric disturbance, with aviation specialists indicating that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying 245 people and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the representative added, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday morning.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane arrived, and ambulances were ready and waiting at the airport.

The reasons turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

During the past year, 25 people were injured when a separate Delta aircraft, on a route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and had to make an unscheduled landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening brief five-second of severe turbulence. An individual lost their life and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon while flying, and while cases of significant turbulence appear to be increasing, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe or worse turbulence each year, out of a sum of in excess of 35 million aircraft departures that currently occur worldwide.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing disturbed air exert in excess of 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 restraint.

As climate change shifts weather patterns, specialists caution that flying could become less smooth: warming trends and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are likely to increase the occurrence and strength of dangerous in-flight bumps.