Last Wednesday (1st), a Lufthansa flight from Texas to Germany encountered severe turbulence that left seven people with minor injuries, in addition to all passengers in shock.
The Airbus A330 reported turbulence while flying over the state of Tennessee 90 minutes after taking off from Austin Airport. There was no storm, and the sky was completely clear when suddenly the plane experienced a free fall of about a thousand feet. Passengers, who were dining, saw plates and cutlery hit the ceiling and break upon hitting the floor. Screams and panic took over the aircraft, which had to make an emergency landing in Dulles, Virginia, where passengers received first aid still inside the plane, and the seven people who sustained minor injuries were taken to the hospital.
The company explained that a phenomenon called “clear air turbulence” affected the aircraft. This type of turbulence occurs when there are no storms, the sky is clear, but a sudden change in airspeed causes instability.
Turbulence continues to be one of the leading causes of injuries to passengers and flight crew, even with the aviation sector making constant improvements to prevent incidents.
Between 2009 and 2018, turbulence was responsible for 37.6% of all accidents in major commercial airlines, according to a 2021 report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Federal Aviation Administration released data last year showing 146 serious injuries resulting from turbulence between 2009 and 2021.
Last December, a flight to Honolulu and another to Houston left a total of 41 people injured. In July, severe turbulence caused at least eight minor injuries on a flight to Nashville, Tennessee, which had to be diverted to Alabama. Additionally, three different flights to Detroit, Miami, and Columbus, Ohio, resulted in serious injuries to three crew members, according to NTSB data.
The NTSB stated that more can be done—both in the industry and among passengers—to limit injuries caused by turbulence. And everyone agrees that simply using a seatbelt throughout the flight significantly reduces the risk of injury.
What is Turbulence
Turbulence is essentially unstable air that moves unpredictably. Most people associate it with strong storms. But the most dangerous type is clear air turbulence, which usually occurs without any prior warning.
Clear air turbulence occurs when two massive air masses close to each other move at different speeds. If the speed difference is great enough, the tension causes severe turbulence. One side of the aircraft may rise while the other descends, or the plane may lose or gain altitude abruptly.
Are Turbulences Becoming More Common?
Paul D. Williams, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Reading in England, says that global warming is changing temperature patterns in the upper atmosphere. This is causing more instability in jet streams.
Climate change is expected to worsen turbulence in the coming decades, experts say, although improvements in weather forecasting help. Therefore, implications for air travelers are still not fully known.
What Can Be Done?
The NTSB offers a long list of recommendations to reduce the number of incidents caused by turbulence. Among them, more information sharing between pilots, carriers, and air traffic controllers regarding weather and turbulence incidents.
Michael Canders, director of the Aviation Center at Farmingdale State College in New York, said that many in the industry are already sharing information about turbulence, while weather forecasts have also improved over the years.
But he is not convinced that it will ever be perfect.
“There is a discussion about: ‘Will technology save us, or do we need to step back and take better care of the Earth?’” Canders questions. “I think we have to do both things.”
Canders also added that the best way to avoid injuries from turbulence is to stay “sitting in your seat and wearing your seatbelt.”
Source: msn.com