Turbulence means the description of airflow over the wings of an airplane, which causes it to enter irregular vertical motion. Other clients include wake turbulence, which forms behind an aircraft when it flies, creating wingtip vortices.
The normal flying condition of an airplane is 1G.
G refers to G Force or gravitational force equivalent.
During descent, the aircraft experienced severe turbulence, and the vertical load factor varied from +2.64G and -1.36G.
A negative G value indicates that the aircraft was accelerating downwards faster than the rate of natural free fall, giving the feeling of weightlessness.
FACTORS – Wind, storms, jet stream, and objects near the plane, such as mountain ranges, pilots unprepared, plane technical issues.
WHAT MUST PASSENGERS DO?
According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, “passengers can easily prevent injuries from unexpected turbulence by keeping their seat belt buckled at all times”. It suggests passengers should listen to instructions from flight attendants and pay attention to the safety briefing at the beginning of the flight.
HOW CAN AIRLINES AVOID TURBULENCE?
- The FAA recommends that carries improve dispatch procedures by keeping communication channels open full time.
- Include turbulence in weather briefing.
- Promote real-time information sharing between pilot and dispatcher or air traffic controller.
- Consider rerouting using atmospheric modeling and data display and use all applicable weather data.
