Turbulence rocks Continental flight
 

Minor news story only, if anyone interested.

From CNN.

Severe turbulence shook a Continental Airlines flight Monday, injuring at least 10 passengers and forcing the aircraft to divert to Miami, Florida, an airport fire official said.

Flight 128 was originally headed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Houston, Texas, but landed at Miami International Airport, the official said. Between 10 and 15 passengers were injured by the turbulence, but the official did not have details on their injuries.

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Passengers injured. A bit more than just the old 600 mph and 30 degrees rocking from side to side scenario then. Comes with the job for these guys though and seems to have been well handled.

..
 

ITCZ ????

CNN is now saying 26 people received minor injuries. It happened 50 miles north of the Dominican Republic. Nothing dramatic on the weather that I can see.

ITCZ
 

Inter Tropical Convergence Zone =lots of atmospheric energy & instability
please; keep your seat-belts fastened..

..."4 serious condition, 22 with bumps and bruises" - could have been avoided. Would be intersting to know how many of us who fly keep their seatbelt on even loosely fastened as I do,:8 just in case, as there is little or no warning of clear air turbulence, for example...?

Another passenger, Fabio Ottolini, said some flight attendants who were standing in the aisles when the turbulence hit were thrown against the roof.

That's the real kicker here is it not - how do these unfortunate folks protect themselves in what seems to have been a sudden drop?

What niggles me so much in these turbulence related threads are the righteous types banging on about keeping your seat belts loosely fastened. Whilst it's true that some pax don't do this, a great many do. However, where unexpected turbulence hits, it will always be the case that there are pax moving about the cabin for valid reasons. Therefore, no matter what, in such instances there will always be some pax who get caught out. They may very well have had their belts loosely fastened the rest of the time.

Don't come undone
 

The statistics don't always lie!

If Rob1975 keeps his seatbelt fastened throughout the flight, save for that trip to the cubicle he has a statistically insignificant chance of being injured by turbulence.

The cabin crew on the other, are generally standing, unrestrained and often pushing a heavy trolley. This fact coupled with their greater proximity to other hazards such as ovens, hot water etc. make them far more likey to be injured in that low probability (but still possible) CAT event.

Rob is right. Stay buckled, not too loosely if you can.

righteous, moi?:rolleyes: nah! ...just reckon most people DON'T wear their seatbelts loosely or otherwise as soon as the seatbelt light goes out! I was on a recent flight where the a/c slightly slowed just after leaving the taxiway, still 100m from the gate, still moving - more or less everyone stood up, opening the overhead lockers prompting CC to again say sit down, seatbelt sign is on etc.. no-one did! :ugh:

Not only do I keep my seatbelt securely fastened during all aspects of flight (aside from the very occasional relief trip) I also keep my hands securely fastened around the seat arms. This, in turn, creates that white-knuckled effect. Said white-knuckled effect lasts for the duration of any given flight. Can you say: fear of flying?!!!!!!:uhoh::uhoh::uhoh:
(Said death grip on seat arms and seatbelt tightened to the point of semi-suffocation is usually, however, mitigated by copious amounts of alcoholic beverages. Preferably served free of cost.)

I had a good one not long since coming into LBA from Tenerife, a lively bit of chop on approach caught out a pax who'd decided the seatbelt lights didn't apply to him and went walkies to the toilet. A stern word from our (most junior) cc and an awakening crack to the elbow soon taught him the error of his ways.

More widely - when in cruise and with belt lights off this kind of thing is always going to happen if cat happens without warning. I was once told, in the space of two days, to encourage pax to walk up and down the aisle to prevent dvt while also advised to keep people plugged in if at all possible.

If the turb don't get em, the blocked up veins will :\

touring the web, report from one of the pax said the Capt had advised they were entering an area of possible turbulence and had instructed the pax to return. Some did.. some didn't.

More touring.. about 2000 pax per year injured by turbulence. and in those cases 91% were NOT wearing seat belts.

CNN had some pictures of the interior with some pretty smashed up ceiling panels. Some oxy panels BROKEN and others smashed in. Considerable force obviously by the pax impacting the ceiling.

Just not true - I was on a 747 years ago that fell through a hole in the sky. There was no warning - no seat belt sign. I was wearing the seatbelt (though not tight) and felt it holding me in my seat. The cabin crew were off their feet. No one was hurt.

It can come out of nowhere.

Not at all. Pretty much the same happened to me (and doubtless has to others here). AA 767 LAX-LHR about 18 years ago, over the Rockies. Several pax and crew injured, diverted to Chicago to offload them (though no media attention). In the cruise with no seatbelt sign, crew in galley preparing meals. Suddenly vibration, pitch down, semi-recover, then really nose down - during which the seat belt light came on. Unfortunately one FA was already headed for the ceiling by that time, came back down onto pax seats. Incidentally, in that case I would say the bulk of pax around me were indeed wearing their belts loosely, just as stated in the safety briefing before departure.

Skipper said later that it came from nowhere, and he passed back ride reports to others following the same routing, who had similar experiences but with everyone secured.

As an aside, even if belted you can still get injured by trolleys, CC and pax flying about.

Objective reporting
 

Just thought you may like to know that GMTV here in England this morning reported the Bermuda Triangle as a possible cause and the interviewer suggested aircraft should avoid the ITCZ if it is so dangerous. Gotta love all that in-depth research!!

Objective viewing
 

Don't watch GMTV

Oh boy... run while you have the chance r1fly.:eek:

r1fly - top tip, never comment on something that you can't spell.:ok: