Has a plane ever crashed because of turbulence?

Answer 1

Yes - if you include wind shear and cross winds as the cause for turbulence.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/24/peru.crash/index.html

Answer 2

Yes, there have been plane crashes associated with turbulence.
The last turbulence-associated crash happened this summer when Pulkovo Airlines TU157 crashed about 40 minutes after takeoff, due to extreme turbulence.
In the US the last crash was when an A300 aircraft crashed off the coast of NYC due to turbulence from B747.

Technically the possibility of this happening is very small, aircraft are built strong, they are designed to handle this kind of weather.
It is known that a Boeing 747 wing can bend 20 feet until it breaks.

So you shouldn't worry about this.

The newer the aircraft, the safer it is.

Answer 3

The answer to your question in Yes- Have a look on this news topic
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/2249780406

But it depends, on the air plane type and the power of the turbulence.
But if you see most of the commercial airline plane crash incidents,the accidents that are directly connected to turbulence is rare. If there is a Severe turbulence, the pilots are warned or directed through another direction or grounded.
Some people get fear that wing will tear off in flight during turbulence. But this is extremely unlikely you would be surprised to see how strong the wings of a commercial airliner are. Yes, it is possible for the wings to be torn off on ground due to collision or a crash, but the thought of a wing being torn off in flight is extremely unlikely.

Answer 4

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 5

Normal turbulence over and over again no. But heavy turbulence will crash a plane. And a lot of planes have crashed because of the turbulence and mainly they've lost cabin pressure.

Answer 6

You might be interested in looking up the Bermuda Triangle events,
A whole squadron went down perhaps as a result of some kind of turbulence

Answer 7

Yes, several have. Usually in what's called 'clear air turbulence,' i.e. there are none of the usual visual signs such as cloud, etc. It's a problem that modern aircraft designers have done a good deal to overcome, but there have been a number of nasty accidents in the past.

Answer 8

Wind shear has caused planes to crash and that is a whole bunch of turbulence.

Answer 9

Turbulence does not cause plane crashes. The extenuating circumstances that cause the crash, however, creates turbulence.

Answer 10

sure.

but only because of pilot error in correcting the problem or a series of collective errors or mechanical problems, where the turbulence only acts as a catalyst.


but i dont think any commercial airliners have crashed because of that.

Answer 11

Yes