Centaurus, I think that with the recent extreme weather in Melbourne, we have all been thinking about GAM, Steve and Janelle. A few days before your post, I was standing on the apron watching/ waving to YJO as they flew away, thinking about what if anything has changed.
I don't have the diagrams or memory at hand but when I flew for GAMS, I often wondered about the damage that the ladder, hydraulic cans and oil bottles loaded in the rear compartment could do in severe turbulence. Out of interest, does anybody know how these bits survived the accident?
I have experienced severe turbulence on three occasions - each instance in Victoria and on two occasions, associated with mountain wave. The two wave instances were sudden jolts - not unlike somebody hammering a piece of tin with a punch. The other CAT was associated with an approaching squall line (150nm away from memory) tracking from Williamstown to Pt Cook. That was like several vertical jolts, but before one direction could finish, the next would take effect. That went on for several seconds. Each severe turbulence encounter involved more vertical than horizontal motion.