by During a flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, which was hit by severe turbulence on Wednesday, 25 people sent the flight to Minnesota on board to hospitals and forced the dangers of flying through unstable air.
Several turbulence flights were reported this year.
While turbulence -related deaths are quite rare, the balance of injuries has grown over the years. Some meteorologists and aviation analysts find that reports on turbulence encounters have also increased and point out what can cause climate change for flight conditions.
Airplanes that hit bumpy air are largely low, and airlines have tried to improve security. Experts advise the traveler to stay vigilant and emphasize whenever possible to wear a seat belt.
What causes turbulence
Turbulence are essentially unstable air that is not predictable. Most people combine it with heavy storms. However, the most dangerous are clear turbulence that often occurs without visible warning.
Clear-air turbulence most often occur in or near the air flows designated in the amount of air flows. The culprit is windscher when two huge air masses near each other move at different speeds. If the speed difference is large enough, the atmosphere with the expansion duration cannot cope with and break into turbulent patterns such as vertebrae in water.
The latest flights from turbulence shaken
In June, five people were brought to a hospital in North Carolina after a flight from American Airlines from Miami met on the way to Raleigh-Durham Turbulence International Airport. The plane landed safely.
At the beginning of this month, severe storms in southern Germany forced a flight from Ryanair to make an emergency landing after violent turbulence injured nine people, the German police said. The flight traveled with 179 passengers and six crew members from Berlin to Milan. Eight passengers and a crew member were injured.
In March, a flight from San Francisco to Singapore recorded severe turbulence over the Philippines. The aircraft wore 174 passengers and 14 crew members. Five people were injured and the plane landed safely in Singapore.
Several flights to Waco, Texas, were diverted on turbulence on March 3. Five people were injured on board an United Express aircraft, which flew to Houston from Springfield, Missouri.
The Italian authorities started an investigation last year after two Easyjet flight attendants were violated when their flight from Corfu was grabbed by turbulence London Airport. The pilot landed an unscheduled landing in Rome.
In May 2024, a 73-year-old British man and dozens of people were injured on board a flightapore Airlines’ flight, who hit severe turbulence. His death was examined. The authorities said he had a heart attack.
It is unclear how often injuries are
It is difficult to pursue the number of injuries due to turbulence worldwide. However, some countries publish national data.
Most reports on turbulence during the flight from 2009 to 2018 led to one or more serious injuries and without damage to the aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board reported.
Between 2009 and 2024, 207 people were seriously injured during turbulence to need hospital treatment for at least two days. Most of them were flight attendants who are more often out of their seats during a flight.
How pilots try to avoid it
Pilots try to avoid turbulence with a weather radar display. Sometimes they can just see thunderstorms and fly around.
But Clear-Air turbulence “is a different animal overall,” said Doug Moss, former airline pilot and security consultant. It can be devastating, he said: “Because the time before the incident can be very quiet and people are unprepared.”
Air traffic controls will warn the pilots after another aircraft is in clear turbulence, said Moss. Many pilots are also looking for signs of wind protection and then plan to avoid these areas, he said.
Modern aircraft are strong enough to manage almost all turbulence. Cabin areas such as overhead containers can receive cosmetic damage, “but these do not affect the structural integrity of the aircraft,” said Moss.
Scientists consider the influence of climate change
Some scientists find that reports on turbulence encounters are on the rise. Several researchers have pointed out possible climate effects as one of the possible explanations.
Professor Thomas Guinn from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University explains that some of the climate change could plan the jet current and windscher that would increase turbulence.
Paul Williams, professor of atmosphere at the University of Reading in England, said that there are “strong evidence that turbulence increases due to climate change.”
In an explanation in the past year, Williams said that his research team found that, for example, 55% has increased since 1979. The team’s forecasts signal that severe turbulence in the Jet streams in the coming decades could double or triple if the global conditions are continued as expected, he said.
There could be an increase in overall air traffic, which can increase the turbulence encounters if the number of flight routes increases, said Larry Cornman, project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from the National Science Foundation.
What travelers can do to be safe
In short, strap down. Turbulence can be difficult to predict, but experts emphasize that the first line of defense attaches the seat belt if possible.
And airlines have taken steps for security. Last November, Southwest Airlines said that it used to end the cabin service so that passengers returned to their seats earlier and attached the seat belts earlier.
The change should “reduce the risk of turbulence during the flight,” said the company.
Also last year, Korean air, a popular instant noodle, Shin Ramyun, decided to no longer offer.
“This decision is part of proactive security measures in response to increased turbulence that aimed to prevent combustion accidents,” said Seoul -based airline in a statement.
