Turbulance
 

Recently, on a 14 hour trip over the pacific, for the first time in abt 12 years I experienced pretty bad turbulance. For me it was an extremely terrifing because i m the kind of person that gets very afraid of the worst possible situation as soon as something small goes wrong...anyways, how does everyone else deal with turbulance?

I turn up Selena really loud on my Walkman. Calms me everytime :)

I will probably be roundly castigated on this one, but I love turbulence! Like a roller coaster in the sky. Calm flights are boring boring boring.

Of course, it always helps if the turbulence doesn't come in the middle of sipping my drink!

As the old saying goes: It's not flying you are afriad of; It's crashing.

Oh, didn't you know that turbulence only happens in coach class? You must be flying on the wrong airline! I agree its the fear of the crash...grip the seat tightly, grit your teeth, say a little prayer, look around wondering why nobody else seems to be getting upset...all of these come to mind.

You feel the plane drop. Then you think the plane is hitting some potholes in the sky. The "FASTEN SEATBELT" sign lights up. Drinks on the seatback trays start to spill.... WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE IT'S TURBULENCE !! :-D

I work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and am involved with the development of radar-based remote sensing of turbulence.

Mid-flight turbulence poses the greatest danger to the flight crew and those passengers not wearing their lap belts. Although, people have been fatally injured by sudden extreme movements of commercial aircraft, the likelihood that such an encounter could bring a modern passenger plane down is remote. The greatest danger is when the aircraft is near the ground. An unexpected 100 ft drop is one thing if you are flying at 35,000 ft, and something altogether different if you are 50 ft off the ground on approach.

The higher the altitude, the greater the margin of safety for unexpected motion induced by turbulence. Once you are well off the ground, there is no reason to be uptight about turbulence, provided that you wear your lap belt so you don't hit the ceiling during an encounter with severe turbulence.

What is the depth of the average bump in a high altitude? Is it 100ft? Yikes, I thought it was alot smaller than that, sort of like a speed bump.

I am certain this is a rational, scientific, and totally common-sense approach..but, I suspect, you wrote it while you were on the ground and not bouncing around in the air!

I liked turbulence much better before I read smueller's explanation. Killjoy!

I think Turbulances are great because they get people to the hospital faster.

For me, it's turbulence during take-off and before gaining full altitude (you know, when the plane is still tilted upwards) that makes me white-knuckle the seat. Don't know why - it just does. Fuhchi, I took a trip over the Pacific (SFO to Narita) twelve years ago which put me off flying for a long time. It was a beautiful sunny day, we first flew steadily north,then we took a left turn just past Mendocino, and the sky turned totally BLACK. It stayed that way, with unbelievably prolonged periods of severe turbulence, for the next 9 hours or so.
Years later, I can look back on that flight and say to myself that I survived, and nothing can be scare me that badly again. Don't let one bad experience stop you.

Hi fuchchi,
When I encounter turbulence I am invariably in the bathroom - it never fails. The "return to your seat" light comes on at the most inopportune time! Actually, when there is turbulence I just remind myself that no ride in the car is comepletely smooth either. A small pothole can seem like a big bump and it's the same way in an airplane. Just a few potholes in the sky.

I never cease to be amazed at how downing a few stiff Bloody Marys before boarding always ensures a smooth flight.

well, I had only experienced turbulance at a high altitude, I am a wee bit terrified of turbulance while going up...any other suggestions on calming things..

capo ... LOL

fuchchi, I too hate turbulence! I imagine all the nuts and bolts in the airplane popping out one by one, the wing is ready to fall off, the tail, the door will pop open and we will all be sucked out or the plane will just plummet. ( I hope this did not frighten you more:)
I just hang on to my husband (who usually sleeps through it) and wait it out~
I have been flying since I was a wee baby and during plenty of turbulence and I am still here to talk about it. So while it is not the most fun for those of us who dislike Roller Coasters, it seems to be something most of us live through~

fuchchi, we did not mean to tease (at least too much)! How about if you simply closed your eyes, tried not to clench your fists too tightly, and concentrated on simply taking deep, even breaths. Perhaps that will help. And think about the wonderful destination that awaits you at your arrival.

I go to sleep.

I hate turbulence, especially at take off and landing. To me we defy all rules of nature by flying in the first place. When turbulence hits I don't get worried unless the flight crew seems nervous. So far they never have.

To turn a phrase,

If you can"t take the turbulence, don"t get on the plane!
%%-

I had a god-awful case of turbulance last week and thank god I was strapped down.

on a recent flight from Paris to Atlanta, I had a great time with the turbulance. I know it might be a little mean or maybe i have a warped sence of humor, but their was this guy sitting next to me. He was on his honeymoon with his wife and he decided to order a red wine. Just as he poured it in his cup the plane bounced and it spilled all over him. Then about an hour later he ordered coffee. The same thing happened and he had coffee all over him. Luckly he wasnt burned. Then they brought out the meals, and i swear one would think he would have learned, but the plane bumped again and the veal with sauted mushrooms was in his lap. I just couldnt figure out why he didnt learn after the 1st experience. I had the same amount of drinks and meals, and so did the rest of the plane, but for some reason he spilled everything that was set in front of him.

I'll bet he had a white shirt on, too.

What causes the turbulance and how come so many people can sleep through it?

I asked my husband, who is a private pilot, about turbulence. He said it's just a swirling of the air. There's a much better answer out there, but that's all I could get out of him since he's getting ready for bed. He's one of those people who values his sleep. He's been known to sleep through the worst turbulence without incident. If his head hit the ceiling as smueller says can happen, he'd merely rub his head and go back to sleep. This is what makes him an excellent airplane traveller, but a subpar airplane travelling companion.

Thanks, smueller, I will definitely keep your response in mind when/if I encounter turbulance again. It was straight-forward and makes sense.

On a flight from Calgary to Los Angeles a few years ago, I was waiting in the back of the plane to use the restroom, so I was standing next to the flight crew's seats. Turbulance started and the young stew sitting next to me gripped the seat and said "we are all going to die, I just know it". Needless to say this shook me up, and it took some other crew members to calm her down, they then told me she was having a nervous spell, and that everything would be allright. For some reason I think of her during turbulance and wonder if she is still a crew member some place. I hope fuchchi doesn't have her on his flight.

I know pilots say they would have to be knocked out of their seats to become concerned with turbulance, so that is a bit comforting.

On a flight from chicago to Boston a couple of years ago, we were the only flight that hadn't been cancled (5 hour delay) do to severe weather in boston. Upon approaching boston we were told by a shaky voice from the captain that other pilots had report heavy turbulance and that we may need to land somewhere else. THIS was the scariest moment of my life. We were tossed around like a toy. People (including the flight crew) were screaming as we were thrown about. Lighting was flashing all around us. We had to make 2 landing attempts. Later we found out the current wind speed was 60 mph with gusts to 80.

My husband happens to be an aerospace stress engineer-you know the ones responsible for ensuring a craft can withstand extreme stresses and makes sure a plane won't fall apart in all sorts of conditions. He gives me all sorts of statistics of how much force there would have to be to knock a plane out of the sky. Basically the only way you will be injured is if you are not belted into your seat.

The absolute worse experience was last New Year's after a 10-hr flight from Africa coming into Zurich there were major wind gusts of up to 200km/h and for whatever reason they decided to keep us in a hold pattern over ZRH-so there we were going around in circles AND being bounced all around for over 30 minutes before they decided to divert us to Geneva. Needless to say there were several sick people and we didn't mind the diversion and resulting overnight in Geneva, we were just happy to get out of that awful turbulence.

You may find this answer absolutely ridiculous but it works for me and has saved my anxiety a few times.
In bad turbulence I just close my eyes, breathe evenly and pretend I'm riding in a truck bouncing along a pot holed dirt track. It works every time. Since I did this I've never felt anxious but often used to and even hyperventilated on a flight from Sydney to Auckland once. It's not nice.I haven't even told my friends this, some of who are in awe at the long flights I have endured over the years to get to a destination.
The last one with a rocky ride was last year rocking and rolling all the way from Frankfurt to Geneva in a small plane.
But I once flew from Crete to London and going over the greek mainland the plane shook violently, even the crew went white. The next day there was a disastrous earthquake in that area.
Anyway, the end result, the adventure of it all is always worthwhile.

My rational side tells me that turbulance can't hurt me - my husband assures me (as does Smueller) that bumpy air is basically harmless, as long as I'm wearing my seatbelt. My irrational side, however, tells me I'm going down in flames, and will most likely lose my lunch in the process.

Despite having logged thousands of miles on planes (I'm an American expat living in the Middle East) I still dislike flying, and turbulance scares the *&^% out of me.

No matter what I'm told, turbulance freaks me out to no end. It's gotten to the point that I flatly refuse to fly between Denver and Colorado Springs - an extremely short flight, yes, but for me, 17 minutes of sheer torture! It's non-stop bumps from take off to landing. My husband is perplexed that I'll fly around the world, then refuse this particular flight. Somehow, being able to see the ground makes it worse for me - worrying about that unexpected drop at just the wrong time. Yikes!

We experienced some wake turbulance on a flight from Houston to Las Vegas a few years back. Ohmigod! The plane tilted up on it's side and people were screaming, yet the pilots remained eerily quiet - too busy composing themselves no doubt. I found out later that had we been in a smaller plane, we could have been in a world of hurt.

So, back to the original question - how do I deal with turbulance? Not very well! I listen to soothing music, have a glass of wine (or two or three) before getting on the plane and try to tell myself that bumps can't hurt me.

Oh yeah, and I avoid that Denver-Colorado Springs flight at all costs!

For anyone who's frightened of flying or gets worried by turbulence, I suggest you pay a visit to www.fearofflyinghelp.com - an excellent help site run by a US pilot. The fear of flying course which you can download for free gives a very good explanation of the causes of turbulence and lots of reasons why it's nothing to be afraid of!!

Wait until you're in an aircraft that has an engine die--especially when it's shooting flames out in the process. Had that happen on a flight from Honolulu to Tokyo several years back.

Flying doesn't "defy the laws of nature," as someone stated above, it exploits the laws of nature.

Several posters were curious about the causes of turbulence, which is easy to summarize. There are three natural sources of atmospheric turbulence

1) Convective turbulence, which is associated with thunderstorm updrafts. This usually isn't an issue with commercial airliners because pilots are instructed to avoid flying directly over rapidly growing cumulus clouds.

2) Turbulence induced by windshear. This occurs when there is a change in windspeed, such as wind conditions that vary with altitude, especially as the aircraft is crossing into the jet stream. This is the turbulence that is most commonly encountered by commercial aircraft in mid-flight. It is often unavoidable.

3) Terrain-induced turbulence occurs at low altitudes in mountainous areas such as Colorado Springs or Juneau, Alaska. This is probably the most dangerous type of turbulence because it occurs near the surface where there is not a large safety margin.

There is one human-induced form of turbulence called wake vortex. Although some atmospheric physicists argue that it does not technically qualify as turbulence (because the air motion is not strictly random), it has essentially the same effect on aircraft as turbulence. Large commercial aircraft induce a wake of disrupted airflow, which can be surprisingly powerful. Wake vortex disturbances have been known to damage the roofs of houses. It is believed by many aviation safety experts that the Nov 2001 downing of an American Airlines flight in New York was caused by this type of turbulence. The threat of wake vortices governs the minimum amount of time between takeoffs and landings. If the aircraft are spaced too closely, wake vortex disturbances become a significant problem.

By the way, planes have a tendency to drop when they encounter turbulence because lift decreases when the flow beneath the wing is non-uniform. Many fatalities attributable to turbulence have resulted from head injuries caused by this initial sudden drop, rather than injuries sustained during continuous tossing. This is why it is important to wear a lap belt whenever seated.

I flew into London day before yesterday on the most turbulent flight of my life. I love to travel internationally, so I must overcome my general fear of crashing everytime I get on a plane--it's not worth sacrificing the pleasure of travel for an irrational fear, but my fear is there. The unsympathetic "well, don't get on the plane" is not an option for me. Last year, when I flew to both Scotland and Paris on separate trips, I calmed myself by thinking of turbulence as waves in the air, and the aircraft as, like a ship, built to negotiate tose waves. I don't think that every choppy ferry ride is a risk of death, so I've tried to talk myself into believing the same thing about turbulence. What is most comforting is the captain's voice, explaining it, and the British Air captain was wonderful about explaining the thunderstorms in the vicinity, his attempts to avoid them, etc. This flight was the first time that drinks were actually sloshing for ages and ages, and they had to suspend the dining service "for the safety of the flight attendants". Also, the presence of my children and my need to calm their fears (one is also a nervous flier, and it was my 14-year-old's first transatlantic flight) kept my panic in check. But I'm the sort of person who thinks that every sound during takeoff is the sound of impending doom, and I search the crew's faces for signs that they are putting on a professional mask. I'm a terrible flier, but try to develop strategies to deal with what I realize are irrational anxieties.

Thank you very much, smueller, for taking the time to post such informative replies.

Thank you smueller! Now how do you know which one is which?

Thanks for all the very informative replies. I feel better already!

Recently, after being delayed for an hour due to severe thunderstorms, our 80 minute flight from Mexico City to Monterrey, Mexico finally took off. From the minute we took off, there was turbulence. To make things worse, my fiance had saminila poisoning from a restaurant we visited in Oaxaca. Poor thing, was in the bathroom during everything, so there was no one to comfort me and I was so terrified I had trouble helping him!

I try to breathe deeply and think happy thoughts during turbulence, but this time I was just consumed...trying to help my fiance and myself while watching every else around me grip their seats. We went right through the middle of a thunderstorm, lightning everywhere, then the pilot begins to accelerate downwards...and I mean it felt like straight down. I was so frightened I lost feeling in my hands because they were gripping the seat so tightly.

I was so glad to finally get home...my hands finally got their feeling back!

So, Intrepid....
An acquaintance has vowed never to fly coach again. She has several methods in place to fly first or business always. Recently, on a fflight to Paris she experienced turbulance and was air sick. When she returned home and recounted her adventure her incredulous son said: "Mom.... you were sick in FIRST CLASS.?"

Gosh, I shouldn't be reading this since I fly again next week - I hate flying, period (it IS unnatural) - and turbulence always gets me promising if I just make it down safely I'll never get on a plane again. All I can do is close my eyes, ask Thunor's protection, and think uplifting thoughts. Glad to know I'm not alone. Turbulence is so scary - but I used to work for the FAA in DC, Aviation Medicine, in the division that had the Accident Investigation Branch, it put the fear in me. After reading this thread, I'm thinking road trips and investigating overseas travel by steamer or liner. Now, if PBS would just stop broadcasting those shows about ships sinking . . . .