Has turbulence ever been the cause of a plane crash?

Answer 1

Yes. Just check the FAA website.

Coach

Answer 2

Yes. The USAF thinks it lost two KC-135s to severe turbulence and there have been other in-flight breakups.

Wake turbulance put a Royal Aircraft Establishment Hawk on it's roof at RAE Bedford in 1982. The pilot ejected from the back seat and bounced along the gras until he hit the perimeter fence, he survived though when I met him in 1983 he was walking with sticks. The photographer in the front seat stayed with the aircraft and was uninjured.

Possibly the China Airlines 747 in the link below.

There was a BOAC 707 too, can't find a link right now.

Rivet Amber, an RC-135, was lost due to damage caused by turbulence (second link)

One of the US "Broken Arrow" incidents was an in-flight breakup of a B52 at around 30,000 feet due to severe turbulence (third link)

So it isn't common, but it does happen.

Answer 3

The FAA reported that among non-fatal accidents, in-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to airline passengers and flight attendants. Each year, about 58 air passengers in the United States are injured by turbulence while not wearing their seat belts.

On December 5, 1996, 16 people suffered injuries, including a 7-month-old baby, when an American Airlines jetliner ran into clear air turbulence over Colorado. From 1981 to November 1996, there were 252 reports of turbulence affecting major air carriers. Two passengers died, 63 suffered serious injuries and 863 received minor injuries. Both fatalities involved passengers who were not wearing their seat belts.

Two third of turbulence-related accidents occurs at or above 30,000 feet. Generally, flying through turbulence of the milder nature, if prolonged, can be fairly uncomfortable to the passengers. If such turbulence were detectable by the weather radar or from weather forecast, pilots would avoid them by deviating off track

Flying through severe turbulence can result in injuries to crew and passengers if they are caught unaware and off the seatbelts. So, have your seat belts on whenever you are seated at all times!

Answer 4

Yes it has taken place. To simplyfy one instance concerned a large plane, jumbo jet I think and a smaller turbo prop. The turbulence from the four engines of the jumbo caused the smaller turbo prop to loose it flight pattern quite drastically and crash. Most 'turbulence crashes' are of the above scenario, however there have been a few non fatal crashes on ground level during taxing.

Answer 5

Associated Press

An American flag, put up by New York City firefighters, flies over firefighters working Wednesday to recover evidence and human remains from the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in the Rockaway Beach section of Queens, New York. Investigators raised the possibility Wednesday that turbulence caused by a jumbo jet contributed to the crash of American Flight 587, saying the two planes took off less than the standard two minutes apart.
[Click to enlarge]


NEW YORK - Investigators raised the possibility Wednesday that turbulence caused by a jumbo jet contributed to the crash of American Flight 587, saying the two planes took off less than the standard two minutes apart.

"We do not know whether this contributed in any way to the actual accident, but we are looking at this very closely," said Marion Blakey, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

"Wake turbulence" has been blamed for deadly airline crashes in the past. Investigators want to know whether it caused Flight 587 to break apart three minutes after takeoff from Kennedy Airport Monday, killing all 260 people aboard and as many as five on the ground. The plane's tail assembly sheared away and its twin engines fell off as the jet went down.

The standard minimum amount of time between flights taking off is two minutes. However, Blakey said it appeared there were less than two minutes between the takeoff of Flight 587 and a Japan Air Lines jet that left ahead of it from the same runway.

"We believe that in fact it was 1 minute and 45 seconds in terms of the actual distance," Blakey said.

Blakey also said at a news conference that a flight data recorder recovered from the flight was repaired by the manufacturer, allowing investigators to extract data on the last minutes of the flight. The black box recorder had been scorched and banged up in the crash.

Answer 6

yes i believe many have been involved and have had a few hairy ones myself but i always think the most vulnerable time is when the plane is off the ground with the wings fully laden with fuel and a sudden turbulence of a certain kind they are not all similar hits the plane its always a wonder to me how the wings don't rip off and go straight up as you can actually see them wavering up and down with two heavy engines on each wing, when you pass through i never fail to think the guys who produce and service these planes do a magnificent job

Answer 7

The most dangerous situation is wind shear on landing. This is when the wind pushes one wing upwards just as the plane is touching down and this causes the opposite wingtip to touch the runway, causing the plane to flip over. It's quite rare though. If you go to www.boeing.com you'll find all sorts of info about planes and flying - even the prices of new jets!

Answer 8

Turbulence is one of the more common factors in non-equipment related accidents. Wind shear on approach, thunderstorms, mountain rolls, CAT. All have caused accidents over the years

Answer 9

I think the answer/s are dependent upon what you mean by 'turbulence.'

There were cases of aircraft crashing on landing on runways where it was later realised that the valley they were landing in created 'turbulence' when the wind blew from particular directions, creating wind-shere and negative lift over one wing (as I understand it, I saw / read reports and video years ago).

You may have been referring to medium to high level altitude problems...!

Sash.

Answer 10

I think wind shear is considered much worse, although modern planes can stand a lot of turbulence.

Answer 11

Yes, one china airline landed in the sea in Hongkong some
years back. I was fortunate to be on a 747 when it landed under
tropical storm conditions and it was especially hairy when
seated at the rear of the plane. So if you can't stand the excitement get seats up front.