Some 25 passengers onboard a Delta Airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam were taken to hospital for checks after the plane was hit by strong turbulence on Wednesday and made an emergency landing.

The Airbus A330-900, carrying 275 passengers and 13 crew, had to make an emergency stop at the airport of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, where the injured were taken to local hospitals, the airline said in a statement.

Delta Airlines did not say if the passengers were seriously hurt, or whether there were any Dutch nationals among the injured.

According to flight tracking site Flightradar24, the plane climbed around 300 metres in 30 seconds and then dropped some 410 metres in the next 30 seconds.

Turbulence, and injuries to passengers as a consequence, are becoming more frequent because  climate change is affecting the jet stream, experts said.

Of the over 35 million flights that take place each year, some 5,000 encounter heavy turbulence.