This is off RE topic, but since we have a lot of professionals on here and I noticed a few pilots I'm hoping to get some insight on the gravity of my fears.
I travel a lot with my company, including flights cross-country and the dreaded Atlanta to Honolulu flight a few times a year. I thoroughly enjoy the destinations, especially when it is in an area that I can check on some potential RE investments. But I have an extreme fear of turbulence in the skies. At 36K feet bouncing around in a tube in sever turbulence makes for a gut wrenching few hours.
To those pilots on BiggerPockets, are these fears justified? Should I not worry until my drinks are hitting the ceiling? What are you guys doing in the cockpit when flying through severe turbulence?
I'm usually laughing and cheering, as if I were on a roller-coaster. :mrgreen:
Seriously, turbulence is classified as light, moderate, severe, and extreme and you have probably never been in "severe" turbulence, although it probably felt like it at the time. I've been flying for 20 years and only experienced "severe" turbulence once, and that was on a small (30 passenger aircraft) while we were descending into Palm Springs, crossing the ridge south of Mount Jacinto.
But as much as I enjoy the rocking and rolling, we understand bouncing around the cabin isn't everybody's idea of fun, so the first thing we do is turn on the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign, slow down the airplane, and ask ATC if there is a better "ride" at another altitude. If bad enough, we'll also make a PA announcement for the flight attendants to sit down ASAP.
Don't worry about the airplane. It can handle more shaking than your teeth. And there's no such thing as "air pockets" or other nonsense. Air is similar to a fluid, like water, and it contains waves and eddies just like babbling brook. Flying an aircraft through an area of turbulence isn't much unlike taking a raft down a whitewater river. THE AIRPLANE IS NOT GOING TO PLUMMET TO THE EARTH!. Not unless it breaks up in flight which is practically unheard of for a passenger airliner.
And I've never had to make an emergency landing following a turbulence encounter (Palm Springs didn't count because we were already landing). The most serious danger from everyday turbulence is from people getting tossed around the cabin. If anybody gets seriously hurt, that would warrant an emergency landing, but for medical reasons, not for airplane damage.
So listen to the freekin' safety brief and keep your seatbelt fastened when you're in your seat!!! :wink:
I'm usually laughing and cheering, as if I were on a roller-coaster. :mrgreen:
Seriously, turbulence is classified as light, moderate, severe, and extreme and you have probably never been in "severe" turbulence, although it probably felt like it at the time. I've been flying for 20 years and only experienced "severe" turbulence once, and that was on a small (30 passenger aircraft) while we were descending into Palm Springs, crossing the ridge south of Mount Jacinto.
But as much as I enjoy the rocking and rolling, we understand bouncing around the cabin isn't everybody's idea of fun, so the first thing we do is turn on the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign, slow down the airplane, and ask ATC if there is a better "ride" at another altitude. If bad enough, we'll also make a PA announcement for the flight attendants to sit down ASAP.
Don't worry about the airplane. It can handle more shaking than your teeth. And there's no such thing as "air pockets" or other nonsense. Air is similar to a fluid, like water, and it contains waves and eddies just like babbling brook. Flying an aircraft through an area of turbulence isn't much unlike taking a raft down a whitewater river. THE AIRPLANE IS NOT GOING TO PLUMMET TO THE EARTH!. Not unless it breaks up in flight which is practically unheard of for a passenger airliner.
And I've never had to make an emergency landing following a turbulence encounter (Palm Springs didn't count because we were already landing). The most serious danger from everyday turbulence is from people getting tossed around the cabin. If anybody gets seriously hurt, that would warrant an emergency landing, but for medical reasons, not for airplane damage.
So listen to the freekin' safety brief and keep your seatbelt fastened when you're in your seat!!! :wink:
I have the same fear and read somewhere that turbulence is very seldom the cause of a plane wreck, its just a major annoyance to the pilots and the crew.
I'm interested to hear the responses you get
Thanks Mitch! That definitely helps. I understand that planes going down at altitude is pretty much never heard of, but after that Air France Airbus accident 2 years ago my fears of flying through turbulence have amplified. The strange thing is on small planes I don't mind it, its just the large cross country flights.
Thats funny you said your up front laughing. I was actually sitting in the first row on a smaller flight through a thunderstorm and each time the plane took a big jolt you could hear the guys up front laughing.
So if I'm understanding you correctly, what I constitute as sever turbulence is probably nothing to worry about. Do the pilots have to record the flight turbulence factor as a post flight record to determine what types of inspections are performed on the plane before it is used again?
Moderate turbulence must be reported to our dispatcher, mostly so they can notify other flights in the area. Severe or extreme turbulence requires a maintenance write-up, inspections, etc.
I'm not sure what the real reason was behind that Air France Airbus, just like we'll never know the truth behind TWA flight 800. But even piece o' crap Airbuses shouldn't be brought down by moderate to severe turbulence. There's probably more behind the story.
Mitch, your laughing reminded me of the same thing hopping from Dallas home on a small prop-jet, My wife had a drink in her hand and she held it steady, but it kept getting closer to the roof each time, she wouldn't bring her arm down. I was laughing and people had white knuckles and they didn't appreciate my laughing at her. I reached up, thinking she was going to dump it on the guy across the isle. I started telling her that the plane would not have any problem with the turbulance, as we probably droped 20 or 30 feet. The other people became a little more believing as I talked to her (and everyone) saying it was really nothing. Some lady thanked me as we got off for settling them down as they didn't know what was happening.
My second enlisted hitch in the Army I was a combat air traffic controller, if you want to have fun with turbulance try it in a helicopter, UH-1s seemed to bounce, Apaches and Cobras just dive as a roller coaster, lots of fun!!!!
I used to be terrified of flying, despite the fact that I was logging 200K miles per year for business.
Two things really helped me:
1. Learning everything I could about how airplanes work, and reading the statistics on major airline carriers. Long story short, I've read on multiple occasions, that turbulence has never brought down a modern airliner...while it may be uncomfortable and scary, the risk of a plane crashing due to turbulence is essentially zero.
2. I got my pilots license. What I realized very quickly was that I wasn't scared of flying, per se, but instead was scared of the fact that I had no control when I was sitting in the back of a plane. While I should have been much more scared when I was at the helm of a small Cessna that isn't nearly as safe as an airliner (and I certainly wasn't nearly as skilled as even a rookie airline pilot), I still wasn't at all scared when I was in the air flying myself. So, consider that perhaps the issue isn't a fear of what might happen, but instead a fear of not knowing and not being in control. There are techniques to alleviate these fears.
One of my Navy buddies, who was also a fixed-wing guy, once went for a hop on a Huey.
After about 30 seconds of flight, he couldn't believe the vibration and asked the pilots, "Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-en-en-en-en-en duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-z-z-z-z-z it-it-it-it-it-it st-st-st-st-st-op-op-op do-oo-oo-oo-oo-ing-ing-ing th-th-th-th-is-is-s-is????"
The pilots replied, "Do-oo-oo-oo-oo-ing-ing-ing wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-t-t-t-t????" :mrgreen:
I dont know what level it was. But saw people de-plane once in Atlanta airport,,there faces were green, and food and drink dripping from there hair. Just got served their meal and hit the bad stuff. Food and drink hit ceiling and dripped back on them. Plenty of sick faces to go with so they got bounced around big time!!!!
Took a long time just to clean the plane let alone inspect it!!! Lets just say the air sick bags werent in the right spot at the right time!!!
worst I ever had was a twin prop taking off from Springfield Mo. , trying to beat a severe thunderstorm. Didnt quite get there on time.
Turbulance bounced our heads off the ceilling hard multiple times with a tight seat belt. never figured out how,,,but it did and it settled down in 10-15 minutes and thats what mattered most!
I don't like the turbulence, but the overcrowded flights these days, with people leaning their seats back into my lap, no food service, etc. is more an issue for me.
By the way Mitch, I have made a few trips back to Hawaii since this post and I have found the perfect solution to those over the Pacific rough flights.
Xanax
I think the plane could literally be going down in flames and it would not bother me a bit.
@Jeff N.
Airline pilot here, not that this is too much consolation, but when is the last time an airliner crashed from turbulence? It simply doesn’t happen. It may feel a little crazy while you are in it, but planes are built to withstand those motions. In fact, in many instances the aircraft wings are so strong that you would pass out from g-forces before the wing had any problems. Your likelihood of injury is less than winning a gold medal these days so find something positive to think about, take a deep breath, and know you are in good hands and riding on strong wings.