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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

#31

Post by master-lincoln »

onlyonhn2 wrote: post #16
PaulRobinson wrote: post #8

Tragic, horrid and going to make a lot of nervous flyers more nervous. I've been through some pretty heavy turbulence in my time, but thankfully nothing this severe. I've been through enough though to know that a lot of people don't take it very seriously. I've been on flights with screaming passengers, and _very_ quiet British Marines, both in reaction to some pretty nasty air, and I'm always surprised that turbulen…

How do you even cross a road with that approach to risk?

I think this is not a fair comparison.

When crossing a road one has more input to judge the risk by looking in both directions, seeing potentially oncoming cars and estimating their speed.

In the plane you have no way as a passenger to know when it's more or less likely that turbulences are flown through or how heavy they would be.

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

#32

Post by DrNosferatu »

I wonder if there’s data to assert what’s more dangerous in the long term:

Stay absolutely seated and fastened for the whole flight;

VS.

Stay absolutely seated and fastened for the whole flight with a few breaks to walk around and stretch your legs.

PS: Yes, sitting without fastening your seatbelt is just plain stupid.

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

#34

Post by ibejoeb »

monkey_monkey wrote: post #6

> The Associated Press has analysed tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 which showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 ft. Just after 8am GMT, the Boeing 777 suddenly pitched down to 31,000 ft over the span of about three minutes, the data indicates.

2,000 fpm sounds like the pilot changing flight level to evade the turbulence, not the turbulence itself.

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

#35

Post by davidmurdoch »

marcinzm wrote: post #17
PaulRobinson wrote: post #8

Tragic, horrid and going to make a lot of nervous flyers more nervous. I've been through some pretty heavy turbulence in my time, but thankfully nothing this severe. I've been through enough though to know that a lot of people don't take it very seriously. I've been on flights with screaming passengers, and _very_ quiet British Marines, both in reaction to some pretty nasty air, and I'm always surprised that turbulen…

When I walk in a city I don't spend my time constantly scanning the sky and every building around me for a potential falling object. Or research the structural history of every bridge I drive over then spend hours avoiding certain ones. Or a hundred other rare things that do kill people but statistically not often. Everyone dies one day and everyone has a single life. I don't see the point of spending that one life i…

We are all playing a giant game with no real winners called "Don't Die". Few play it actively, most just try to avoid too much pain before they reach the end, and others play it a bit like Russian Roulette.

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

#36

Post by crest »

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?

Probably biased memory and better weather radar allowing planes to avoid turbulence more often.

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

#37

Post by corobo »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #29
corobo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bird shat on my head like 10 years ago and I look up at everything now. Street lights, overhangs, anything a bastard pigeon could be sitting on. I don't fear death, for I will be dead. I fear unexpected inconvenience

If anything, getting shat on would make me avoid looking up for some time

Look up in advance rather than directly under, haha. Strains the neck less too

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

#38

Post by gpderetta »

closewith wrote: post #12
PaulRobinson wrote: post #8

Tragic, horrid and going to make a lot of nervous flyers more nervous. I've been through some pretty heavy turbulence in my time, but thankfully nothing this severe. I've been through enough though to know that a lot of people don't take it very seriously. I've been on flights with screaming passengers, and _very_ quiet British Marines, both in reaction to some pretty nasty air, and I'm always surprised that turbulen…

> I simply don't understand some cabins that have cocktail bars in them - are you absolutely crazy? Air pockets are horrific, and there is nothing pilots can do to avoid unexpected ones. The answer is that you're far more likely to choke on an olive at the bar than die due to turbulence.

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

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

#39

Post by DrBazza »

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?

We spent an extra 20 minutes on the tarmac at O'Hare last week whilst they replotted around a major thunderstorm over Canada.

My recollection of bad turbulence is that same as yours - a flight to Seattle in '98 was the last time I can remember bad turbulence.

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

#40

Post by consumer451 »

crest wrote: post #36
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?

Probably biased memory and better weather radar allowing planes to avoid turbulence more often.

The data seems to show a significant increase in clear-air turbulence, apparently due to increased energy in the system from climate change. I have heard people say "when you add energy into a chaotic system, it becomes more chaotic."

> Moderate turbulence increased by 37%, and light turbulence increased by 17% during this period. Other flight routes over the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the South Atlantic also significantly increased.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2023/11/20/more-cl...

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