I have been flying as a passenger for almost 40 years and wouldn't say I was fearful, just slightly apprehensive on boarding an aircraft.
I have encountered slight turbulence on most flights, however last May shortly after our departure from Malaga we had severe turbulence. Even the cabin crew looked scared which didn't reassure us much. The aircraft seemed to drop a considerable amount on a couple of occasions. It lasted about 15 mins which surprised me as I had always thought the pilot would do his best to get out of it if possible.
Would this have been caused by the mountains in the area? However I fly to Malaga frequently and have never experienced this before. Worse thing was there was no mention of it from the pilot after we had gone through it and stabilised, surely a reassuring announcement would be the done thing after such an event?
Now the silly questions
Is turbulence dangerous? and what is the worse case scenario
Do pilots ever get frightened by it?
Thank you and my apologies if my questions seem daft to you professionals!