Air Turbulence Facts

Imagine traveling at speeds of 500 miles an hour. Now imagine traveling at speeds of 500 miles an hour at a height of 30,000 feet above sea level. Add it to it some blows of wind at incredible speed and it might seem like you have a perfect recipe for disaster. Actually, you don’t have to imagine all that. If you’ve ever been in an airplane flight, you’ve pretty much experienced all that, and if you’re still reading it, it hasn’t turned into a disaster for you. Yet.

At such heights, it is common to have turbulences in the earth’s atmosphere, and the wind speed up there is many times that of the speed we experience on the ground. Air planes are designed with all these considerations in mind, but that doesn’t prevent the passengers from experiencing a violent jolt every now and then, especially if you’re unbuckled and sauntering down the plane aisles. Not a very wise thing to do while hurtling at such speeds.

In the this month alone, more than two dozen people have been injured due to air turbulences during flights in the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. has reported an annual rate of 58 injured passengers due to turbulence. 26 passengers were injured on Continental Airlines Flight 128 and 2 on Delta Airlines Flight 2871 this month. If you don’t want to join the list of these people, and want to find out the three different kinds of air turbulences and ways to protect yourself during flights, read on.

According to the chief pilot of Virgin America, Rob Bendall, there are three kinds of air turbulences.

Storm Turbulence:

Thunderstorms are generated due to the convection process taking place in the Earth’s atmosphere as the air gets heated by the Sun’s heat. This hot air, being lighter, rises up and forces the heavier cool air down towards the Earth’s surface, hence, causing thunderstorms. These storms are the most violent at a height of between 12,000 to 20,000 feet, the center of the storm, but can create turbulence reaching heights of 50,000 feet. Normally, airplanes fly at 30,000 or 40,000 feet, and so can experience these turbulences. According to Bendall, the only way to avoid them is to go round a storm instead of through it, following the warnings and directions by weather forecast and radars, unless of course the pilot wants the plane to be seesawed up and down by as much as 6,000 feet.

Mountain Waves:

The turbulence that pilots call mountain waves are produced as a result of air traveling towards the mountains and “breaking” on the mountain tops, producing waves of unsettled currents on the other side of the mountain, similar to sea waves breaking on underwater reefs. Although invisible to the eye, these waves are expected by the pilots due to common knowledge. An additional indicator of such turbulence is the lenticular clouds that are developed in the surrounding air.

Clear-Air Turbulence:

This is the most treacherous of all the kinds of turbulence. It occurs on the boundary of the stream of cool artic and warm southern air, and the surrounding slow-moving air. This turbulence is invisible and unpredictable, so there are no warnings, unless an aircraft has passed on ahead of you and sent the warning. If not, then you are the possible victim, It can happen anywhere at any time so there is no avoiding it.

Air turbulence by itself is not dangerous, as aircrafts are designed to handle them and the contingencies that they might bring with them such as hailstorms and lightning. However, if you, the passenger, is not following the instructions of the flight crew about fastening seat belts and remaining in your seat, then you might get a few bumps on the head and few bruises hear and there.

For your own good, follow instructions, and you’ll be safe.

No related posts.