A Number of Hurt as Rough Air Hits A Delta Airlines Aircraft Landing at Sydney, Australia

Several people were hurt when a Delta flight originating in LA to Sydney, Australia was hit by turbulence Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it landed at the Sydney airport, an airline spokesperson stated. Several cabin crew members required medical attention.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said they treated five individuals, and took three to a medical facility with non-life-threatening injuries that comprised pain in the back and migraines. Those affected were between their 30s up to the 70s.

The event represents the newest example of planes being hit by turbulence, with experts indicating that global warming is a key driver.

There were nearly 250 travelers and a crew of 15 on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely and normally" at the airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Paramedics reported they received a call just only 180 seconds before the plane landed, and ambulances were waiting on the tarmac.

Why in-flight bumpiness is becoming increasingly prevalent - and more severe.

Last year, 25 people were injured when another Delta jet, flying from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, experienced "significant" atmospheric disturbance just a couple of hours into the long-haul flight, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Recently, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines flight endured a harrowing short but intense period of extreme instability. One passenger died and dozens were injured, as individuals not fastened in rose out of their seats and were slammed back.

Turbulence is a common occurrence on aircraft journeys, and while occurrences of strong or severe turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are still very rare.

Data suggests that there are approximately thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of more than 35 million journeys that currently occur around the world.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through disturbed air exert greater than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As a changing climate shifts the conditions in the sky, researchers alert that flying could become less smooth: temperature changes and altered air currents in the higher altitudes are projected to heighten the occurrence and strength of significant turbulence.