Flight into Thunderstorms

[Steakman]

Hi all,

I've got a question I've been meaning to ask for a while now. ..hope this is the correct forum. Around 4 years ago I was on a Mexicana A320 flying home to ORD from Cancun, and around halfway home, we flew through a horrendous line of severe storms. We were literally tossed around like a ping pong ball for a minute or so (felt like forever). Im an experienced flier, and have taken lessons in the past so I at least am a teeny bit knowledgable, but I've never been terrified like that in a plane of any sort.

Can anyone please comment on procedures for penetrating severe storms?

Thanks a lot!

[Rainboe]

You look at the line of red rings on your radar (when the returns inside the thunderstorm get up to 'Oh my God!' level, they are cancelled so storms show as rings- easier to see through the clutter), try and pick a route through if you can, or deviate as far as it takes, then strap 'em in and go for it Baby! You are going to get shaken around. This is what you have to accept if you are going to fly aeroplanes through tropical regions (if you want to get to your destination).

It is standard practice for certain nervous passengers (and if I may say, many Americans) to get off the aeroplane (often on their knees) muttering words like 'lawyer', 'sue', 'shotgun' etc. One can only say it is 'safe' in that any form of transport is 'safe'. There are very few incidents of aeroplanes entering a thunderstorm and not coming out of it in the same number of pieces- it is exceedingly rare for tragedies to occur. Nobody likes being shaken about, but for some reason, many people think that despite the fact they want to travel by air, there should no risk whatsoever borne by they themselves, and any rattling around is automatically the fault of the airline or crews!

It comes with travelling the skies!

[Steakman]

Thanks Rainboe. Just wondering if it ever gets to a point where a crew won't penetrate a line of storms enroute? Of course T-Storms are an issue in the 'States as well, especially the plains and midwest.

I didn't mean to implicate unsafe or hazardous operations -- just interested in some feedback on the subject.

[BOAC]

Steakman - to amplify rainboe's post, try to avoid the heavy radar returns by at least 10 miles and 25 miles if possible, and try to fly upwind of the cell rather than downwind - and some lines of storms CANNOT be penetrated where the gaps are too small and/or the returns are to 'Oh my God'.

[Rainboe]

Steakman, the biggest problem I remember was penetrating the monsoon over the Bay of Bengal over the Nicobar Islands. A giant line of monstrous storms across track. We had everybody strapped in for ages while we picked a way through, but even then we actually were at one stage 150 miles off track looking weaving a way through.

Strangley enough I was at a lecture a few years back given by a meteorologist/scientist who implied thunderstorms didn't really get any higher than about 33,000'. I pointed out to him that I had been at that altitude looking up at some that seemed to go up above that altitude as if we were on the ground- a good 15 or 20,000' at least. He didn't believe me. It is not unusual for even 747s to be tipped on their sides, with people thrown airborne and damaging the ceiling with head holes, then damaging themselves when they come down again. Aeroplanes are tough. But somehow, if you do get caught like that, all everybody wants to do is sue sue sue- the pilots, the airline...anything that moves. We are invading an alien territory up there- we all have to accept the risks that come with it!

[Steakman]

Rainboe, do pilots of smaller airplanes (small commuter types) also penetrate storms, or is this left for the large jets?

Thats really odd regarding the expert meterologist. Even I know, from living in Chicago, that T-storms can go above 50,000 feet.

[Rainboe]

I have never knowingly 'penetrated' a storm. Some storm cells lie next to each other, but I've always found a way between them. Sometimes you can penetrate the fuzzy tops where they are not so clearly defined, and it can get quite rough. If it looks bad enough, you go around them. It is common to be 30 miles off track in avoiding them. Still better than trying to get through them (as in 'into' them, which is a no-no). Going 'through' them is taken to mean going 'between' them, in the wider gaps, when it is unavoidable.