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One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

bbc.com

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Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#241

Post by dghlsakjg »

mattrighetti wrote: post #70
voisin wrote: post #26

I haven’t experienced much turbulence in maybe 15 years, whereas I remember in the 90s I experienced tons of turbulence in almost every flight. I am not sure if this is something modern airliners have been designed to deal with or avoid, or not. Has anyone else experienced this or is my memory just faulty?

I travelled a lot by plane back when I was working in Luxembourg going back and forth from Italy. I'll always remember Luxair's tiny Bombardier DHC-8-400 [0], lot of turbulence on those every single time, I guess because they are so small compared to other planes. I had the impression that they could be easily thrown around in the sky, and don't get me started on the noise of those propellers! The combination of the…

Those turboprop planes don't fly as high as turbofan plane. The Dash-8 tops out at around 25-27k ft. compared to ~40k ft. for most modern jetliners.

When you are going over the alps, that extra altitude can really help.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#242

Post by marze »

ec109685 wrote: post #192
marze wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If “the vast majority … are predictable”, why wouldn’t the airline pilot warn the passengers in advance?

Pilots warn about upcoming turbulence all the time. Sometimes so much they don’t do food and beverage service because they are worried about it.

This flight experienced "clear air" turbulence. Such turbulence is not visible on radar and is not predictable.

Turbulence due to weather is what you are talking about.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#243

Post by Der_Einzige »

vsnf wrote: post #131
arnon wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single airline says this for the last 15 years at least. On some routes you see lots of loose seatbelts (Middle East, Africa). On European flights, everyone has the seatbelt on for the entire flight.

This behavior is reflected in car attitudes too. Many Japanese drive with a detached seatbelt. Not even the presence of children changes this calculus.

This is an asia thing, not a Japan thing. Saw this in most of South East Asia.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#244

Post by Symbiote »

ryandrake wrote: post #170
Intermernet wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been flying for a long time. It's only in the last decade that I've noticed the specific language of "keep your seatbelt fastened even if the light turns off". It's always been a "soft" suggestion, but it's becoming stronger, and repeated. The ANA flight crew in particular were quite adamant about it. This may just be me becoming more aware of it, but, if so, I'm also becoming more aware of more passengers actua…

> It's only in the last decade that I've noticed the specific language of "keep your seatbelt fastened even if the light turns off". It makes you wonder why they ever even turn off the seatbelt light. Just keep it on the whole time, just like the equally anachronistic no-smoking light. I feel like the light is just there to mollify the older generations who didn't grow up with mandatory seat belts wearing in cars, fo…

A "stay in your seat" light would be an improvement.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#245

Post by dghlsakjg »

andybak wrote: post #116
DHowett wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So it's a bit like "why don't people wear a welding mask while cooking?" Your kitchen does not have staff telling you to make sure you are wearing a welding mask. It may also lack appropriate indicator lamps that tell you when it is a good time to wear your welding mask. It is also not standard practice in all kitchens. It’s actually not like airplane seatbelts at all, where they are ubiquitous and the risks of not…

> Your kitchen does not have staff telling you to make sure you are wearing a welding mask. The advice to wear your seat belt throughout the flight are hardly clear and emphatic. They often make it sound like something they have to say to cover their asses. There's certainly no clear comms around the risk of death and serious injury. I have no idea in this case whether the indicators went on in time but I obviously w…

> The advice to wear your seat belt throughout the flight are hardly clear and emphatic. They often make it sound like something they have to say to cover their asses. There's certainly no clear comms around the risk of death and serious injury.

I can't remember the last time I was on a plane where they didn't recommend keeping a seatbelt on at all times.

Here is the BA brief saying to do just that time 1:55: https://youtu.be/gBGbDQbwzWU?si=5KS4LTEcDmtQKJH_

Here is the United one where they mention it at 0:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2LSKVAH4WA

I can't imagine anything more clear than starting the seatbelt briefing: "It is important to have your safety belt on at all times"

They end it with: "In case of unexpected turbulence keep your seatbelt fastened, even when the seatbelt sign is off."

Its literally the first and last things that United tells you about your seatbelt.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#246

Post by Symbiote »

banish-m4 wrote: post #221
filleduchaos wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a well-known thing. Turbulence injuries come from being launched into the ceiling of the plane due to negative Gs. It's why the seatbelt is important - to restrain you to your seat.

Well, duh. I just thought the interior fittings were more robust. I guess even they got the modern plastic "Lexus" treatment.

It is better that they bend and pop out, as that will absorb some of the impact.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#247

Post by wkat4242 »

yurishimo wrote: post #240
vsnf wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This behavior is reflected in car attitudes too. Many Japanese drive with a detached seatbelt. Not even the presence of children changes this calculus.

Most Dutch people don’t wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. As e-bikes are becoming more popular, some older people are opting to wear a helmet since the speed is higher, but many still don’t. It’s not uncommon to see a parent riding around with a kid attached to the bike and neither are wearing a helmet. I think it is kind of a cultural thing as well as convenience. If you ride a bike to the station to catch a trai…

Also it's just not really a big danger. There's no epidemic of brain injury due to this.

Part of the reason is that because bike usage is so common and the infrastructure is very separate (bike lanes everywhere, no mixed traffic on eg roundabouts), and bikes almost always have right of way and are not to blame in an accident, that drivers are very aware of them. I noticed in countries like Ireland with much less bikes that bike lanes sometimes just end in the middle of a high speed roundabout. And most drivers there have no clue which is in part because until 10 years ago you could just buy a driver's license at the post office. It was a "learner's permit" but it was normal practice to just go and drive.

So yeah in Ireland I wouldn't even ride a bike with a helmet. In Holland I'm much safer even without one.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#248

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

dataengineer56 wrote: post #50
gpderetta wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly a quick search can't find any hit for people dying by choking on a airplane bar. A few hits for turbulence though.

Maybe because choking to death is so common that it doesn't warrant news articles?

I guarantee you that if someone chokes to death on a Boeing airplane, it will make the news now.

Re: One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence

#250

Post by Ylpertnodi »

greentxt wrote: post #214

One turbulence death out of millions and people here are like, “see, you die if you don’t keep your seatbelt fastened at all times!” Tbh, I do try to keep mine fastened, but generally don’t go anywhere, so as to maximize my safety.

73 years old, and died of a heart attack. I don't see that as 'turbulence death'.
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