BA2890 24th of August - Cabin Crew Injured

[dantrappe]

On approach to Sarajevo airport yesterday myself and other passengers were shocked when the plane suddenly banked to the left, dropped a few thousand feet in a few seconds and severe turbulence thereafter. The captain after landing described it as an "airpocket" There were really heavy thunderstorms around Sarajevo at the time.

Unfortunately one of the BA cabin crew injured herself as she hit the top of the cabin and was at the time unable to move her arm. We were concerned for her so if anybody knows her hope she is recovering and dealt with the return journey back to Gatwick ok !

[Glamgirl]

Hi there,

The crew member you mentioned is ok, I seen her yesterday after the return flight and she was heading to the doc to get checked out (a very sore elbow).

As I wasn't on board, I can't comment on what happened on the flight, all I can say is that "airpocket" was the wrong terminology, as those don't excist. From what I can gather, there are a lot of mountain in that region and strong winds combined with storm clouds (which we don't go near) can cause the type of turbulence that was on that flight. A good example as to why we as pax to keep seat belts fastened when seated even when the sign is off.

I hope all the pax feel ok too. Just in case anyone else is from that flight is reading this, the aircraft was never in any danger. Promise.

Gg

[cieloitaliano]

Clear air turbulence weather (CAT), sometimes colloquially referred to as "air pockets", is the erratic movement of air masses in the absence of any visual cues, such as clouds. Clear-Air Turbulence is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet; at high altitudes (7,000-12,000 metres/23,000-39,000 feet) this is frequently encountered around jet streams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream) or sometimes near mountain ranges. Clear-Air Turbulence is impossible to detect either with the naked eye or with conventional radar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar), meaning that it is difficult to avoid. This kind of turbulence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence) creates a hazard for air navigation. Because aircraft move so quickly, they experience sudden unexpected accelerations or 'bumps' as they rapidly cross invisible bodies of air which are moving vertically at many different speeds. Cabin crew and passengers on airliners have been injured (and in a small number of cases, killed, as in the case of a United Airlines Flight 826 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_826) on December 28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_28), 1997 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997)) when tossed around inside an aircraft cabin during extreme turbulence. BOAC flight 911 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_flight_911) broke-up in flight in 1966 after experiencing severe lee wave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_wave) turbulence just downwind of Mount Fuji (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji), Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan).
Wake turbulence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_turbulence) is another dangerous type of CAT. The rotating vortex-pair created by the wings of a large aircraft can deflect or even flip a smaller aircraft on the ground. It can also lead to accidents in large aircraft as well. Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines_Flight_9570) crashed at the Greater Southwest International Airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Southwest_International_Airport) in 1972 while landing behind a DC-10 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10), leading to new rules for minimum following separation from "heavy" aircraft. American Airlines Flight 587 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587) crashed shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_International_Airport) in 2001 due to pilot overreaction to wake turbulence from a Boeing 747 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747) that caused separation of the vertical stabilizer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_stabilizer).
Inflight turbulence often accounts for nervous passengers. In a recent poll 35% of fearful fliers cite turbulence as a major concern.