Motion Sickness

[hlob]

Hi,
I got into a lengthy discussion with colleagues (our work is not even remotely aviation related) on motion sickness in airplanes. Is it still common to see people getting motion sick on airplanes? We've all flown quite a couple of times and never saw anyone actually "get sick", even in turbulences. We were speaking about aircrafts >= RJ85 by the way.
So, all you frequent fliers / crew, how common is motion sickness really in today's airplanes?

[MrSoft]

As a frequent pax my view would be that it's broadly specific to aircraft size.

Long-haul, on widebody, I never saw a single passenger get ill. I'm sure it happens but I can't remember it.

On narrow-aisle aircraft, in bad weather, for sure it still happens. I don't believe in-flight turbulence would usually provoke it; however landing approaches in bad weather certainly do.

I speak as a suffererer myself; generally my balance is poor and I like to see the horizon, especially during banking manouevres.

But still touch wood, I never actually got ill since I was a kid. Closest shaves? In the stack outside Dublin in an ERJ145, during a winter storm :yuk:. Crosswind final approach into Newquay on a dash-8 :yuk::yuk: compounded by looking after my son, who WAS being sick.

[UniFoxOs]

30 years ago the then Mrs UFO was sick on what I thought was a very smooth transatlantic crossing in a large a/c (747). Since then I have never noticed anybody being sick in any size of a/c, but I assume it must happen.
UFO

[liteswap]

I've flown a fair amount as SLF in the last 25 years, as well as while learning for my PPL, and the only time I've ever felt sick on an a/c was in a DC3, weirdly enough.

I was sitting by the window in what was effectively a joyride from Shoreham to Le Touquet and I could feel the plane yawing around. It didn't help my poor tum at all and, while I managed to retain breakfast, I was so annoyed that my only experience of flying in one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made -- and to which I'd been looking forward for weeks -- turned out to be a less than totally joyous occasion. Felt better as soon as I got off.

But then, a DC3 looks better from the outside, IMHO....

[FWOF]

I sometimes feel a bit green in I'm rummaging around in my case when it's under the seat in front of me. Not sure why. As soon as I sit still I'm fine again. Only other time I can remember almost hurling was when on an Air Southwest flight back to Manchster from Bristol and was seated in row 1 ... which faces BACK down the cabin. Nothing worse than 50 faces looking back at you! Flight was a teeny bit bumpy too. Other than that I've never suffered with motion sickness. :ok:

[Contacttower]

I've never suffered from motion sickness (although I will admit to losing my appetite a bit after an hour of aerobatics) but one of the reasons I think I sometimes feel a little 'yucky' while flying in an airliner is dehydration....drinking lots of water helps a lot.

[iernl]

Only ever happened to me once on the way into Heathrow one morning. Aircraft -A319- circled tightly for about 20 mins. at exactly 10,000. I felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest and head :yuk: . First time in over thirty years I had to use a sick bag!

[Pete_slf]

I used the sick bag for the first time in 30 years a couple of weeks ago (29 Feb) on an Embraer 145 from EDI-MAN. Turbulence all the way, CC strapped in as well as PAX.

lots of pitch and roll on approach, just as we got over the tarmac and I thought it was going to be over soon, power back on and climbed. Diverted to BHX. Deep joy.:{

[Michael SWS]

After many years of flying frequently without mishap, I was recently as sick as a dog on a flight from LHR to EWR (777, I think). The weather was appalling, and we were forced to circle New York for 45 minutes. The plane was being blown all over the place, with frequent sudden drops and rises, and eventually I could hold it in no longer and filled almost the whole sickbag. (The food had been good and plentiful, and there was a lot to come up). Then the woman next to me began to gag, and someone behind was definitely sick. I think it travelled through the plane like a Mexican wave. :yuk:

[SnoggingTarmac]

Think that's a peristaltic chain reaction - one person voms and the sight, sound, smell or combo of all three, set off those nearby. I once witnessed the phenomenon on a rather bumpy approach to Las Vegas.

Good way to combat that syndrome is to carry a small bottle of Olbas Oil (tiny tiny - much less than 100ml!). Quick dab of that on a paper hankie and hold it under your nose - all you'll smell is clean menthol/eucalyptus. Turn up the headphones if you have anything to drown out the sound and find something interesting to read in the in-flight magazine (the fact that you'll have to really search hard for something interesting to read, is a useful distraction technique).

I hurl if I look at a glass of water too long but fingers crossed have been OK with airline flying so far. My magic preventative is Stugeron. I've only chucked n a plane once and that was due to an unmedicated migraine.