Need facts please?

[bean]

I have a fear of flying which has been exacerbated by motion sickness which has plagued me for years. I hope you dont mind explaining a few reasons for problems I have had with flights and it may help to control my fear.
1, What is the difference and causes of turbulence I have experienced. Firstly there is the sudden, big drops which induce immediate vomiting and secondly there is the bumpy road type, which I shake through but am not sick! Why are these so different?
2, Cures for motion sickness please?
3, Cant face the flight to Vegas again due to severe droppy turbulence for last 30mins of approach. I was so ill that it took me days to feel like eating again! I was told that this is normal on approach to Vegas, why is that?
4, We were on a Onur Air flight to Turkey and on take off we seemed to reach the correct altitude and then suddenly the engines seemed to cut out(am sure just reduced speed) and the planes nose dropped suddenly and we seemed to dive a few hundred feet. Everyone was screaming and we were not given an explanation. What could be the causes of this event please?

Think I should leave it there! I will appreciate any help to alleviate my concerns. Thanks

[MathFox]

Hi bean,

Cures for motion sickness please?

As a sailor there were three things that helped:

1. Fresh air (hard to get on a plane, but use the air nozzle)
2. Watching the horizon (take a window seat) or closing your eyes and imagining you're in a car or on a boat
3. They say that seats over, or just in front of the wing feel less turbulence.
4. Drugs (your doctor can prescribe better stuff than what you can get without prescription. I use my hay-fever drugs (anti-histamines)

(Note, don't mess with prescription drugs without discussing it with a, preferably your, doctor.)

[Aurora]

Originally Posted by bean

I have a fear of flying which has been exacerbated by motion sickness which has plagued me for years. I hope you dont mind explaining a few reasons for problems I have had with flights and it may help to control my fear.
1, What is the difference and causes of turbulence I have experienced. Firstly there is the sudden, big drops which induce immediate vomiting and secondly there is the bumpy road type, which I shake through but am not sick! Why are these so different?

Different ways of hitting air-flows. There can be downdrafts that feel like a "hole in the sky" and there can be simple "air waves" that feels like a bumpy road. Very shortly explained If you want more information I'd suggest googling and reading up on how weather systems work, watch images/graphics on how they look, how air flows, how different clouds cause different kinds of turbulence and how warm/cold fronts can cause interesting effects in the air

3, Cant face the flight to Vegas again due to severe droppy turbulence for last 30mins of approach. I was so ill that it took me days to feel like eating again! I was told that this is normal on approach to Vegas, why is that?

I guess it's because of the deserty area? Hutch can probably answer this much much better, but my guess is the sun warming up the ground. This causes the air to rise rapidly, and as you descent the airplane will hit this hot air rising up towards the sky.

4, We were on a Onur Air flight to Turkey and on take off we seemed to reach the correct altitude and then suddenly the engines seemed to cut out(am sure just reduced speed) and the planes nose dropped suddenly and we seemed to dive a few hundred feet. Everyone was screaming and we were not given an explanation. What could be the causes of this event please?

There could have been issues with other planes in the area. The TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) calls out "PULL DOWN - PULL DOWN" and "PULL UP - PULL UP" in each of the airplanes that are in danger of colliding. This can cause a rapid DOWN (or UP) movement. Other than that I don't know, it might have been a "normal downdraft" like any other turbulence. The reason for suspecting that is the lack of information from the flight crew. In any unnormal situation, on any normal airliner that isn't completely black-listed, the crew (either the pilots or cabin crew) WILL inform you of what just happened.

Think I should leave it there! I will appreciate any help to alleviate my concerns. Thanks

Answered in bold

[Captain Hutch]

Hi Bean,

Welcome to the website. Mathfox and Aurora have given some good answers. The TCAS commands are actually "Climb" and "Descend", and "Reduce vertical speed", with variations of those. The "Pull-up" warning is reserved for terrain warnings.

I have not flown into Vegas but I believe Aurora is correct with the action of the ground heating up and causing updrafts and unstable air masses.

A comment on the sudden drops that you occasionally encounter, we are assuming at cruise altitude or in climb or descent. Although it might be difficult to prove, personally I believe these are caused by a previous aircraft, probably long gone, having disturbed the air in that particular area. There is no way for a pilot to avoid these areas if it has been a while since an aircraft was actually in that airspace, and probably that area of disturbance has been displaced by other air currents anyway. The good news is that the area is short-lived--the only way you would experience a prolonged drop would be to be inside of a massive thunderstorm, which is not done.

Sudden "drops" during the approach or takeoff are unlikely because of ATC spacing requirements, pilots flying slightly above the glide path of the preceding aircraft or avoiding the same ground track of same, wind currents and friction breaking up such an area, and microburst reporting technology.

As to the takeoff in Turkey, yes there usually is an intermediate level off soon after takeoff where the engine thrust is reduced, though if it was abrupt as you say there may have been a conflict with another aircraft. If that were the case, of course the fact that another aircraft was around there is not a good situation, however you can be encouraged that your pilots were sharp enough to spot the intruder.

Hope this helps.

Hutch

[bean]

Thanks guys. I feel so much better. I hope to be brave enough to book a short trip to Spain in May. I just need to persuade myself that the few days in the sun is worth the worry about flying!