PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - 4 Aer Lingus Crew hospitalized after turbulence
Old 11th Sep 2012, 02:29
  #24 (permalink)  
Blind Squirrel
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Rennes
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Maddie:-

What Reverserunlocked says is quite right. Turbulence -- some version of which will be encountered on almost every flight -- doesn't break aircraft. They're quite incredibly strong, and even more incredibly flexible: you can practically tie a knot in the wings and they still won't break. Nobody likes being bounced around, of course, but in terms of danger to the passengers, as long as you're strapped in -- even reasonably loosely -- the risk is so vanishingly low that it truly isn't worth worrying about. In the past thirty years there have been only three fatal incidents attributable to turbulence in the entire worldwide airline system: one case in Africa, one in the U.S., and one over the Pacific. In all three cases the people concerned weren't wearing their seat belts. In Northwest Europe, where you do most of your flying, the risk is still lower because there aren't any large mountain ranges to cause very serious wave or rotor turbulence and the temperatures aren't high enough to form the kind of big cumulonimbus clouds that you find in, say, West Africa.

Long story short, as long as you're strapped in you can afford to dismiss the entire matter from your mind and concentrate on more important subjects, like whether the 'bus home is going to be on time or not.
Blind Squirrel is offline