What exactly is turbulence, and is it at all an indication of danger during a flight?
In: Physics
Short answer, an aircraft experiences turbulence as it moves through air that is changing direction and velocity, similar to a boat as it hits waves. It is rarely dangerous.
Longer answer, there are different types and severity of turbulence. The light turbulence you often encounter is just slight variations in the air as you fly through it.
Moderate turbulence, while not dangerous to the aircraft, is noticeable and you would have a hard time walking, or your drink might spill. One might encounter this while entering the jet stream, flying around thunderstorms, flying through thermals on a hot summer day, or flying over mountain ranges.
Severe turbulence is extremely rare, and causes a momentary loss of control for the aircraft. If you were walking down the aisle and suddenly hit severe turbulence, you might find your head on the ceiling. This is more likely to be found if a plane accidentally penetrates a thunderstorm or other severe weather. In over a decade of flying, I’ve never experienced severe turbulence. We are actually prohibited from flying through it if we know it exists.
Extreme turbulence is the highest severity, and can cause structural damage to the aircraft. It is incredibly rare, and would most likely be associated with severe thunderstorms, which we avoid.
There is also wake turbulence, which is turbulence generated by all aircraft as they fly through the air. A smaller aircraft flying through a larger aircraft’s wake turbulence can be highly dangerous, but there are techniques we use to avoid it.
Some of the most dangerous aviation related weather phenomenon are microbursts (a form of windshear), which are produced by thunderstorms. Basically a sudden, massive downdraft that drops from the sky. While flying into a microburst might not actually be that turbulent per se, the downdrafts can overpower a jet aircraft and cause them to crash low to the ground. Modern airlines have onboard systems to detect windshear, so we can firewall the thrust and get away from the ground.
Latest Answers