Turbulence ! Pilot's Frequent Flier's What is a normal flight.

[Lynda]

I got to thinking after Debbie said that all her flights have some Turbulence involved, that tends to happens to me too. Perhaps Debbie and I are a jinx or maybe Turbulence is part of every normal flight.
I do know it bothers most of us FFs

Some questions then on Turbulence.

What is usual and what is not.

How long does Turbulence normally last.

How do we know what is light chop, moderate turb and severe turb.

Do pilot's always try to find smoother air.

Should we expect some Turb on every flight.How much on average?

What percentage of flights would have moderate and severe Turbulence.


( Perhaps some more pilot trip reports may help:) )

[CaptainStark]

That is right: What you encounter in an auto periodically is about the same as moderate turbulence. Pulling into a parking lot across a sidewalk, bumping a curb in the Bank Drive-Up line, hitting a good pothole, crossing that not-so-good road repair, or driving anywhere within 20 miles of Detroit -that is the equivalent of moderate turbulence.

Some flights encounter patches of bumps with smooth air in between. Other flights encounter bumps of varying degrees along their entire route of flight. And yet other flights climb, cruise, and descend in an eerie smoothness that makes it nearly impossible to believe you are moving through the air at 500 mph.

If it is bumpy, the pilots will do their best to find smoother air but that may be impossible. Light turbulence is virtually any movement short of Moderate. Moderate is aircraft motion of varying frequency but of large amplitude (amount of movement up or down or side to side). Walking is possible but very difficult and all passengers should be strapped in for their safety. Severe is very rare (seen it twice in 25 years of flying) and will toss anyone or anything unattached to the aircraft around like a ragdoll. Passengers who have not heeded their warnings to remain in their seats with their seatbelts fastened have been killed due to head or neck injuries as they strike the overhead bins. Those seated around those killed or severely injured who were strapped in were not injured.

Aircraft fly virtually around the clock all over the world. Turbulence is a normal part of moving through the atmosphere. I can think of no accidents where the aircraft crashed due to turbulence, with the exception of wind shear accidents on landing or takeoff the last of which occurred over a decade ago.

Hope that answers (albeit belatedly) your questions.

:ray:

[canoga]

Lynda,

Think about it as driving. There are some roads that are pretty smooth, some roads that are bumpy and then you have Cleveland roads. They are still fishing out semi trucks here that have disappeared down potholes back in January.

I guess I am trying to say that you have movement whenever you drive but you don't really think of it as, 'I'm going to the market and this route will be bumpy.' You just go over it without a thought because you know you are going to pass over the bumps just fine.

Now, let me tell you, turb scares the poo out of me. But I have finally come to accept that it is just the 'roads' in the sky. They are more dynamic than our roads here on Earth but the comparison is pretty accurate. You are cruising along at 500mps so you are going to feel stuff (think about going over a bumpy road at 5 vs 35 MPH). Plus, unless I am on your flight and I am in the lav, you won't experience anything over a light chop. It is an established fact that the minute my #ss hits the toilet seat, the plane starts bouncing around like popcorn.

Beth