are there any dangers with turbulence?

Question

on the last flight i have been, there has been extreme turbulence. the flight was literally going down every time there has been turbulence. i was so scared i was having weird thoughts 'was i going to reach home today or not, etc..' is there any potential danger with aircraft turbulence?

Answer 1

Dangerous turbulence is extremely rare. Mostly the only people who get hurt in turbulence are the ones not wearing their seatbelts at the time. Very extreme turbulence can happen unexpectedly but it is very rare.

Answer 2

Y'all don't keep track of the news do you?

The believe the Adam Air flight KI 574 crash on January 1st 2007 may have been caused by "weather penetration". There were thunder storms in the area at the time and, IIRC, the aircraft had an unserviceable weather radar and was out of contact with ground control.

Modern commercial aircraft are usually able to avoid the worst turbulence, either by climbing above it or diverting around it. They have weather radar or they can be warned off by ground controllers. Some even receive weather radar plots via satellite link (Garmin, for example, do these systems). So it is very unlikely that a commercial aircraft flying in the US would encounter really significant turbulence.

Per passenger mile it is very uncommon to encounter damaging turbulence. But it does happen, usually unexpected clear air turbulence. Typically the injured are the flight attendants and passengers who were too arrogant to wear their seatbelts, like they were told to. Early on in the career of the 777 a United flight attendant told me that they had a much rougher ride in the galley because it was in the tail rather than in the center of the a/c like the 747, they had had a couple of flight attendants break their ankles in turbulence.

I've flown in weather that had the flight attendants confined to their seats for hours. I've looked out of the window of a 747 and seen the wings flexing what looked like twenty feet. People throwing up everywhere. But that's nothing compared to what the a/c can survive. Just a rough flight.

But ultimately aircraft can be lost due to turbulence and wind shear on landing. Even wake turbulence from other aircraft. When I was at RAe Bedford we had a pilot who was still walking with two sticks after surviving a BAe Hawk crash in about 1982 caused by following too close to a Vickers Viscount and rolling the aircraft at low level. He ejected but bounced across the grass because he was too low, the Hawk scraped along the runway on its roof with the photographer still in the front seat, he survived uninjured.

Answer 3

Modern commercial aeroplanes can cope with all predictable turbulance. If it seems as though some weather is ahead that it wouldn't like then the weather radar in its nose will inform the crew and they'll go around it.

The aeroplane structure will tolerate considerable turbulance and shrug it off like a bump in the road.

The biggest risk is that unsecured cargo will rattle around the cabin and get damaged. If the cargo is human then it should sit down and wear its seat belt when the warning light is on then it will not get damaged - unless some dingbat has overloaded the overhead locker and something falls out.

You might also vomit.

Answer 4

Turbulence is a bit like sailing on a sea, when it gets rough the ship bobs about, its the same principal in the sky.

Is it dangerous? yes and commercial airlines try to avoid it (its called chop in the industry)

It as far as I am aware has not caused structural failure in an aircraft but if you are not strapped in and you hit a pocket of CAT (Clear air Turbulence) you can find your self on the ceiling of the cabin and then the floor.

Answer 5

'Yes,' is the short and simple answer. Generally speaking though, No, or Rarely.

There are 'Dangers' in whatever we do ~ skateboarding, bike riding, driving or even flying.

Planes are designed to withstand turbulence's and are very strong. Also, weather radar and reports from other pilots and meteorology in general all helps to make flying much safer.

The greatest danger comes from flying into the stuff while people are 'not strapped into their seats.'

If you can imagine standing still while the lift you are in falls from under you, then you have some idea of what injuries can occur to the human body when it meets the ceiling as it goes the other way ~ travelling rather fast.

It's ALWAYS wise to be belted in (even if loosely so) when seated.

Sash.

Answer 6

The biggest danger from turbulence is injuries to the passengers or crew from objects in the cabin. For example if the plane hit bad turbulence and falls several feet anything not properly secured will "Fly in to the air" and collide with anything in its way.

Answer 7

Only with clear air turbulence (CAT) near the ground. The "going down" feeling you had is more likely to be due to use of the rudder than turbulence.

Commercial pilots don't use the rudder very often (normally only for course correction on take-off or landing or as a means of avoiding turbulence quickly), as it makes the passengers uncomfortable (as you have found out).

Instead, they prefer to use the flaps and ailerons located on either wing, together with an engine power reduction or increase (for minor corrections, engine power only is used), to execute a course change, which is far gentler.

Don't forget, flying is the safest means of travel.

Hope that helps

Answer 8

Most planes are made to deal with turbulence, but if the turbulence is in the form of a cyclone or hurricane, the plane might have difficulties. but dont worry, the chances are 1 to a billion.

Answer 9

Yes air planes a designed to out-stand any turbulence remember that the plane fly on top of the clouds and thunder is usually below when the plane is flying, its just a ruff ride but nothing much can really happen.

Answer 10

no, none at all, the aircraft keeps in the air by flying through still air infront of it, the still air passes over the wings which are shaped to use this still air to give it lift and stay up. turbulence is when you fly through a piece of air thats not regular, for example after another plane has recently flown through it and disturbed it, or a particulaly large cloud formation which has updraftts and down draughts in it. at this point the air cannot (momentarily) support the planes flight as it flies through it and so the plane starts to literally fall out of the sky, however the moment the plane cuts through normal air, the lift is restored to the wings and normal flight is resumed.