A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Plane Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries when a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Several cabin crew members sustained injuries.

Local paramedics reported they evaluated five individuals, and transported three of them to the hospital with minor injuries that comprised back pain and headaches. The patients' ages ranged from their thirties and seventies.

This marks the latest incident of aircraft encountering turbulence, with experts pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

On board were nearly 250 travelers and 15 crew members on the wide-body jet, the official noted, adding that the plane arrived "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Emergency responders indicated they received a call just three minutes before the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were ready and waiting at the airport.

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

During the past year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, on a route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, encountered "considerable" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

In 2024, travelers and staff on a certain international flight experienced a harrowing short but intense of severe turbulence. A traveler lost their life and numerous people sustained injuries, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and fell back down.

Turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while occurrences of rough conditions appear to be increasing, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated thousands of instances of significant in-flight disturbance every year, out of a overall number of over 35 million aircraft departures that now take off worldwide.

Severe turbulence is described as when the sudden jolts of a plane experiencing unstable air apply greater than a significant G-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change alters weather patterns, researchers alert that air travel could become less smooth: shifts in temperature and altered air currents in the upper atmosphere are likely to increase the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.