Several Affected as Turbulence Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight into Sydney, Australia

Several people sustained injuries after a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it made its approach and landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson informed. Several cabin crew members were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service reported they evaluated a total of five people, and transported three of them to hospital with relatively minor issues that comprised spinal discomfort and head pain. Those affected spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the latest incident of aircraft being hit by severe turbulence, with experts saying that global warming is a major factor.

There were 245 people and fifteen staff members on the wide-body jet, the representative said, clarifying that the plane landed "without further incident" at Sydney Airport at 6:48 a.m. local time on the day in question.

Paramedics indicated they were alerted just a mere three minutes prior to the plane arrived, and ambulances were standing by on the runway.

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

In the previous year, twenty-five passengers and crew sustained injuries when a separate Delta aircraft, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, encountered "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the transoceanic journey, and had to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a frightening brief five-second period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in lifted out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is a common occurrence while flying, and while instances of significant turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are an estimated 5,000 incidents of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of in excess of 35 million journeys that now take off around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is defined as when the vertical motions of a plane experiencing unstable air generate in excess of a significant G-force on your body - sufficient force to propel you from your seat if you were not fastened by a seatbelt.

As global warming modifies the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become bumpier: temperature changes and changing jet streams in the jet stream level are likely to boost the regularity and severity of significant turbulence.