Multiple Affected as Rough Air Impacts A Delta Airlines Flight Arriving in Sydney, Australia

Several people have been injured after a Delta flight from LA to Sydney, Australia experienced turbulence Friday morning.

Flight DL41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, a company official informed. Four flight attendants required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five individuals, and transported a trio to hospital with minor injuries that such as back pain and head pain. The injured ranged from their 30s up to the 70s.

It is the latest incident of aircraft experiencing severe turbulence, with researchers saying that global warming is a significant contributor.

The aircraft was carrying nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane landed "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics reported they received a call just three minutes before the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

The reasons turbulence is growing increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

In the previous year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, experienced "severe" turbulence just 120 minutes into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an unscheduled landing.

In 2024, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a frightening short but intense of severe turbulence. One passenger died and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

In-flight turbulence is fairly routine while flying, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Data suggests that there are around five thousand cases of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a sum of over 35 million flights that currently occur around the world.

Strong atmospheric disturbance is categorized as when the up and down movements of a jet passing through rough air masses generate greater than 1.5 times the force of gravity on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you were not fastened by a restraint.

As climate change alters weather patterns, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: warming trends and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.