Eli5: why isn’t a plane experiencing turbulence considered dangerous?
In: Engineering
Do note that turbulence is the reason why they recommend you keep on your seat belt while in flight.
Pilots can to a certain extent, estimate the severity of turbulence based on weather data and their flight instrumentation which is why they turn on the seat belt sign when they expect to go through a rough patch.
Because if the manufacturers or the inspectors or the pilots had any reason to believe that the plane was not structurally sound enough to withstand the turbulence you would be taking off in the first place.
Planes are built to withstand serious punishment. Check out the links others have sent regarding wing stress testing etc.
Pilot here, you would be amazed how much a modern airliner can handle, look up wing flex tests on YouTube.
Modern airliners are built to withstand something around 150% of the maximum turbulence they will actually encounter, there’s a reason air travel is the safest method of transportation.
Planes are remarkably flexible. If you really think about it, they’re basically metal tubes filled with air.
They are designed to withstand things like this.
Because it can be sudden and unexpected and toss around whatever is inside the plane that is not tied down resulting in injury.
Pretty much all forms of transportation we currently use experience turbulence. Rough roads, choppy seas, sweaty elbows on the train; such is the nature of traveling through time, space, and matter.
Next time you’re in turbulence, if you have a water cup or bottle, set it on the tray table and I bet it doesn’t even slosh out. Like someone said, it’s similar to a car on a bumpy road.
Planes are ridiculously over designed in the name of safety..
[here](https://youtu.be/K2QoanZq2jE?si=wlj_SFzNgT4Uefjq) you can see a Boeing 777 wing flex test, it goes to exactly 154% of the most extreme possible conditions before breaking.
Exactly as the calculated it to be.
Above and beyond, in the name of safety.
Because they make planes to be able to withstand turbulence just like they make cars able to withstand a bumpy road. Turbulence is really just like a bumpy road for a plane.
I imagine being on a boat and close my eyes during turbulence… and really that’s all it is. A metal object floating on fluid. It will be alright.
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