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

Several people were hurt after a Delta Airlines aircraft originating in Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia encountered significant turbulence Friday morning.

The flight, numbered 41 "experienced a brief period of turbulence" as it touched down at the Sydney airport, a representative for the carrier told. Four flight attendants sustained injuries.

Emergency medical services reported they treated five patients, and transferred three to the hospital with minor injuries that included back pain and headaches. The patients' ages spanned from their thirties and seventies.

It is the most recent case of planes encountering severe turbulence, with experts indicating that global warming is a major factor.

On board were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, clarifying that the plane touched down "safely" at Sydney Airport at shortly before 7 a.m. on the day in question.

The NSW Ambulance Service said they received a call just three minutes ahead of the plane arrived, and response teams were standing by on the runway.

Why in-flight bumpiness is growing increasingly prevalent - and potentially more dangerous.

Last year, twenty-five passengers and crew were hurt when a separate Delta aircraft, travelling from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Netherlands, hit "significant" turbulence just two hours into the lengthy trip, and was forced to make an precautionary landing.

Earlier this year, passengers and crew on a Singapore Airlines jet experienced a terrifying short but intense period of extreme instability. A traveler passed away and many were hurt, as unbelted passengers lifted out of their seats and crashed back down.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of significant turbulence are reportedly becoming more frequent, they are remained quite uncommon.

Estimates show that there are around thousands of instances of severe-or-greater turbulence annually, out of a total of in excess of 35 million journeys that are conducted globally.

Intense turbulence is described as when the vertical motions of a aircraft going through rough air masses generate in excess of 1.5g-force on your body - a strong enough force to throw you from your seat if you weren't wearing a safety belt.

As climate change modifies atmospheric conditions, experts warn that flying could become more turbulent: shifts in temperature and changing jet streams in the higher altitudes are projected to increase the regularity and severity of dangerous in-flight bumps.