A Number of Affected as Rough Air Strikes A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney

Multiple passengers and crew were hurt following a Delta aircraft traveling from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia was hit by rough air on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at Sydney Airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

Local paramedics said they assessed a total of five people, and transferred three of them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that such as pain in the back and head pain. Those affected were between their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of aircraft encountering atmospheric disturbance, with researchers pointing out that shifting climate patterns is a key driver.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the aircraft, the official said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday.

Emergency responders indicated they were alerted just a mere three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and emergency vehicles were standing by on the runway.

Why plane turbulence is growing more common - and potentially more dangerous.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" rough air just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

Earlier this year, travelers and staff on a Singapore Airlines jet endured a frightening short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler died and many were hurt, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and crashed back down.

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

Estimates show that there are an estimated five thousand cases of significant in-flight disturbance each year, out of a overall number of more than 35 million flights that now take off around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane experiencing disturbed air generate greater than a significant G-force on your body - a strong enough force to propel you from your seat if you did not have on a restraint.

As climate change alters the conditions in the sky, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the upper atmosphere are projected to increase the frequency and intensity of significant turbulence.